The Buffalo Sabres Future Is Actually Pretty Bright
On Monday, the Sabres signed their 8th overall pick, Casey Mittelstadt to a 3-year entry level contract. Mittelstadt, best known for his heroics at the 2018 World Juniors for Team USA and his electric goals at the University of Minnesota this season, is expected to join the team this week and I have extremely high expectations for the Minnesota native. So high that I think the Sabres future is pretty bright. I know you’re probably thinking, Sabres? Bright future? Ya right. But you’re wrong.
First and foremost, let’s talk about Jack Eichel. People forget, Jack Eichel is really fucking good. Like really, really good. The kid has been done dirty by freak injuries in 2 of his 3 seasons in the show. People say you are not 100% back from a high ankle sprain for at least a year. Eichs has had two in the past two years. So I’m not one to make assumptions, but I think everyone can assume he isn’t playing at 100%. Yet in the past two years, he is basically a point-per-game player. 57 points in 61 games last season, and he has 56 in 61 games so far this season. Imagine what he can do when he’s 100% healthy?
So who better for Mittelstadt to learn from than Jack Eichel? They are both young, American born players who can benefit a ton from each other. Whether Mittelstadt plays wing on Jack’s line or plays center, it is going to be a huge addition for the Sabres. Right now, Jack Eichel plays with Zemgus Girgensons and Jason Pominville. That’s who the Sabres surrounded their franchise player with. But soon enough, it could be Mittelstadt-Eichel-Reinhart. Which is a lot more deadly, let’s be real. Let’s also keep in mind that the Sabres are going to have a lottery pick. So we could be seeing Brady Tkachuk – Jack Eichel – Casey Mittelstadt as a line next season as well.
So say the Sabres get Tkachuk, their top-3 lines could look like:
Tkachuk – Eichel – Mittelstadt
Nylander – O’Reilly – Okposo
Pominville – Rodrigues – Reinhart
Not too shabby…
And speaking of the lottery pick Buffalo will have, what if the Sabres were to get there hands on the 1st overall pick? Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is a no brainer #1 overall pick, he is a franchise changer. Everything changes for Buffalo if they get there hands on that pick. You add Rasmus Dahlin to a defense that already has Rasmus Ristolainen and US Olympian and SCSU defenseman Will Borgen and I think it’s in pretty, pretty good shape for the future. That’s a lineup that will be good for years to come.
Now I think the biggest concern for the Sabres future is the goaltending situation. And while the team will tell you they have a plethora of tendys in the system, who knows if that is actually the case. The 2019 UFA goalie class is loaded with names like Bobrovsky, Varlamov and Rinne. But the Sabres may need to took to acquire a tendy for next season. Who knows, with the way Keith Kinkaid has looked, the Devils could part ways with Cory Schneider. I’m sure there will be a goalie available this summer for the Sabres to trade for.
Obviously a few things need to fall into place for this team to be a legitimate contender But I really do believe the Sabres future is bright if they can stay on the right track. They have so much talent, it’s time they do something with it, because as we know when the Stanley Cup TV ratings come out every year, Buffalo is one of the biggest hockey markets in the country and it would suck for the fans to let all this talent go to waste.