Can Sabres surpass Patrick Kane, Red Wings? Peek at the rest of the Atlantic Division offseasons
Here's a glimpse at how teams in the Atlantic Division used their cap space this summer and what it could mean for the playoff race this season.
buffalonews.com
A five-game road trip in March gave the Buffalo Sabres an opportunity to play their way back into the race for the playoffs.
Strengthening their odds wouldn’t be possible, though, without a win in their first stop, Detroit. The Sabres took a 1-0 lead behind Tage Thompson’s power-play goal with 8:32 left in the first period, but the Red Wings scored four unanswered goals to beat Buffalo 4-1.
South Buffalo’s Patrick Kane, right, skates with the puck for the Red Wings against Jordan Greenway of the Sabres in March at KeyBank Center. Joseph Cooke, Buffalo News
The Sabres defeated Seattle and Calgary during a Western swing that followed, but the damage was done. The Red Wings took control of their playoff destiny and missed out by a point, while Buffalo played out the string on a season that resulted in Don Granato’s firing.
Detroit is one of the Atlantic Division opponents Buffalo must fend off to earn a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs and break a postseason drought that dates to 2011. However, the Red Wings and Ottawa Senators spent the past few months retooling their rosters with high-end difference-makers.
Will hiring Lindy Ruff and overhauling the bottom six with more speed and physicality be enough for Buffalo to finish higher in the standings than Detroit and Ottawa? The Sabres replaced Zemgus Girgensons, Eric Robinson, Victor Olofsson and Tyson Jost with Sam Lafferty, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Beck Malenstyn and Ryan McLeod.
Part 1 of our Atlantic Division offseason review tackled the top teams in the division. Here’s a glimpse at how the rest used their cap space this summer and what it could mean for the playoff race this season:
Detroit Red Wings
Additions: Winger Vladimir Tarasenko, center Tyler Motte, goalie Cam Talbot, defenseman Erik Gustafsson, goalie Jack Campbell, defenseman William Lagesson.Departures: Defenseman Jake Walman (Sharks), goalie James Reimer (Sabres), winger Zach Aston-Reese (Golden Knights), defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (Hurricanes), winger David Perron (Senators), winger Daniel Sprong (Canucks).
2023-24 finish: 41-32-9, 91 points (5th place).
Outlook: The Red Wings will be a popular pick to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016. South Buffalo’s Patrick Kane re-signed with Detroit, and the club added his former teammate in Tarasenko, who had 23 goals in the regular season before he helped the Panthers win the Stanley Cup.
This team shouldn’t have a problem scoring. It ranked ninth in the NHL last season in goals per game. Though the Red Wings still lack a legitimate No. 2 center, they are deep at nearly every forward position, and their defense corps has Moritz Seider, as well as recent high draft pick Simon Edvinsson, who broke into the NHL with 16 appearances in 2023-24. It’s an impressive roster when you consider how many high-end prospects are in Detroit’s system.
The glaring question surrounding this team is whether the defense corps and goaltending are strong enough. Detroit needs better performances from veterans on the blue line. Ben Chiarot struggled next to Seider, though the tandem was put in challenging situations by coach Derek Lalonde. Jeff Petry and Edvinsson produced outstanding results as a pair, albeit in a small sample size, but Petry struggled with everyone else.
Detroit also is relying on Alex Lyon to be its No. 1 goalie – a stopgap until top prospect Sebastian Cossa is ready for the NHL. Lyon will be backed up by Campbell or Talbot, neither of whom performed well with their previous teams.
The Sabres were held to one goal in each of their last two games against the Red Wings and lost three of the four meetings last season.
Ottawa Senators
Additions: Goalie Linus Ullmark, winger David Perron, winger Noah Gregor, winger Michael Amadio, winger Xavier Bourgault, center Jan Jenik, defenseman Nick Jensen, defenseman Jeremy Davies.Departures: Goalie Joonas Korpisalo (Bruins), winger Mark Kastelic (Bruins), defenseman Erik Brannstrom (Avalanche), winger Parker Kelly (Avalanche), winger Roby Jarventie (Oilers), winger Egor Sokolov (Utah), winger Mathieu Joseph (Blues), defenseman Jakob Chychrun (Capitals).
2023-24 finish: 37-41-4, 78 points (7th).
Outlook: The Senators’ miserable 2023-24 season began with one of their top players, Shane Pinto, receiving a 41-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy and one of their prominent free-agent signings from last summer, Korpisalo, failing to live up to the five-year contract that the club gave him.
Ottawa ranked 28th in goals allowed per game, 29th on the penalty kill and 30th in 5-on-5 save percentage. The Senators hired Travis Green, previously the Devils’ interim coach following Ruff’s firing, and packaged Korpisalo with Kastelic and draft picks to acquire Ullmark, who won the Vezina Trophy with Boston in 2022-23. The defense corps was overhauled as Ottawa traded Chychrun to the Capitals for Jensen, and the club’s bottom six should be improved with the additions of Amadio and Gregor.
This may be a make-or-break season in Ottawa. Will Senators captain Brady Tkachuk be willing to stick around if they miss the playoffs again? This team has the top-six talent to win. Green has Tkachuk, Pinto, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson. Like the Sabres, though, the Senators must pass one or more teams in this division to make the playoffs. The scenario seems unlikely when you compare this roster with others.
This was a challenging matchup for the Sabres in recent seasons because of the Senators’ physicality and, for whatever reason, Buffalo always seemed to play down in games against Ottawa as it was outscored 11-3 in its last two losses in the divisional series.
Montreal Canadien
Additions: Winger Alex Barré-Boulet.
Departures: Defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic (Devils), center Tanner Pearson (unsigned unrestricted free agent), winger Colin White (unsigned), center Mitchell Stephens (Kraken), defenseman Chris Wideman (retirement), winger Jesse Ylönen (Lightning).
2023-24 finish: 30-36-16, 76 points (8th).
Outlook: General manager Kent Hughes is still leading a tanking franchise that won’t have a chance to compete for a playoff spot soon unless some of their recent top draft picks emerge as difference-makers.
Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft, broke through last season with 20 goals and 55 points, which led Montreal to sign the 20-year-old winger to an eight-year, $60.8 million contract. First-line center Nick Suzuki had team highs with 33 goals and 77 points, while winger Cole Caufield had his third consecutive campaign of 20-plus goals.
There’s not much else up front, though. Brendan Gallagher’s production has dropped off since 2020; Sean Monahan was traded in March; another injury cost Kirby Dach all but two games last season; and though Alex Newhook was a reliable center following his trade from Colorado, the 22-year-old is a better fit for a third-line role. How much longer will Montreal fans remain patient with this rebuild? Its only free-agent signing was Barré-Boulet, a prolific AHL scorer with only 12 goals in 68 NHL games since 2020-21.
This team may be a sleeping giant, though. Its most recent first-round pick, Ivan Demidov, looks like a potential superstar, and Montreal’s top selection in 2023, David Reinbacher, can become a No. 1 defenseman. Jacob Fowler is also considered one of the top drafted goalie prospects, and Lane Hudson should strengthen the defense corps this season. Hudson, 20, led all NCAA defensemen in points during his two years at Boston University.
Starting in 2022-23, the Sabres lost four of five meetings against the Canadiens before winning two straight to finish last season.