Sabres final thoughts: Buffalo can’t sell status quo after another step backward
For the 10th time in the Sabres' 14-year playoff drought, they failed to hit 80 points in a season.
www.nytimes.com
The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night to end their season with 79 points in the standings. That’s the 10th time during this 14-year playoff drought that they’ve failed to hit 80 points. They haven’t finished higher than 20th in the NHL standings since 2011-12, the first year of the drought.
That can’t be glossed over or sugarcoated. This team wasn’t supposed to be rebuilding anymore. Yes, it entered the season with the youngest roster in the NHL. It also left more than $6 million in salary-cap space unspent. But the rhetoric from the moment owner Terry Pegula and general manager Kevyn Adams introduced Lindy Ruff as the head coach last spring was about being in a “win-now” window.
Instead, the Sabres took a step back. They had a 13-game winless streak before the new year. They had three losing streaks that hit three games, another that hit six games and one at the end of the season that hit four games. Their goal scoring bounced back, but just about every other aspect of their game was worse than when they finished with 84 points last season and subsequently fired coach Don Granato.
“We didn’t get where we wanted to go,” Ruff said. “That’s the statement. We’re not where we wanted to be. That stretch of games that we went through pretty well killed us for the year. I take full responsibility for where we’re at and how long it took us to get out of there. I don’t offer up any excuses except it can’t happen again. We’ve used that as the low part to start building for the rest of the year. And then, for a period of time, we almost fought our way back into position. But the hole was too big.”
The results of this season leave the Sabres with a lot of questions entering the offseason. But the undercurrent of all those questions is “What is going to change?” Ruff and Adams will meet with players in the coming days. They’ll talk about the need to start the season faster and the way their play improved late in the season. They’ll probably talk about conditioning and the need for a big summer of training. But as the Dylan Cozens trade signaled, there is work that needs to be done to this core.
As of this writing, the Sabres have 18 players under contract with six restricted free agents. That doesn’t leave a lot of roster room for change without trades. And those restricted free agents include key pieces such as JJ Peterka, Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn. They also have a projected $21.4 million in cap space. If they’re willing to spend it, that money should be plenty to make the necessary changes to get this team over the edge.
How serious are the Sabres about ending this drought at 14 seasons? As usual, their actions in the coming months will tell that story more than their words will at the end-of-season news conferences.
1. Peterka finished the season with 27 goals and 41 assists, setting a career high with 68 points. The timing couldn’t be better for him, as he’s a restricted free agent this summer. He won’t play for Germany at the World Championship since his contract situation is up in the air. Peterka expressed excitement about the Sabres’ potential and said he’ll leave the contract talk to his agent.
“I’m not worried at all,” Peterka said. “I’ll let him handle that. I’ll just focus on having a good offseason, having some fun. He’ll help me through that. I’ll just have my offseason.”
2. Alex Tuch officially recorded his 112th blocked shot of the season, which is the most by a forward since the NHL started tracking the stat in 2005-06. Tuch also got his ninth short-handed point, which led the NHL. He finished the season with 36 goals and 31 assists. He put together a strong case for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best defensive forward. Tuch, 28, played in every game for the first time in his career.
“That was something I took a lot of pride in,” he said. “That’s something I really pushed for this year. Everyone in this locker room, you’re dealing with stuff all year long. Sometimes you’re feeling better than others. I really had the goal of playing a full season. I hadn’t done it in my career. It’s something I was really focused on and something I’m trying to take care of myself and (my) body away from the rink. That was really big for me.”
Tuch is eligible to sign a contract extension July 1, and it’s hard to imagine a player entering a negotiation with more leverage than Tuch will have.
3. James Reimer had a scary moment against the Flyers when a skate grazed his neck during a scramble for a loose puck at the net front. Reimer avoided disaster with just a small cut. But the 37-year-old knows he was fortunate.
“With the adrenaline, you can’t really feel pain a lot of the time,” Reimer said. “You’re a little freaked out in the moment, but there wasn’t really any blood, so I was all right. It’s funny — I’ve heard a few pastors say, ‘You’re invincible until the Lord takes you home,’ so I’ll live with that mindset right now.”
Reimer has been taking a one-year-at-a-time approach to his career. Thursday may have been his last NHL game. His wife and kids were in attendance, and he’s going to sit down with them in the next couple of weeks to figure out what next year looks like. Asked if he wants to keep playing, Reimer said: “That’s a great question. I wish I had an answer for you.”
With the way he played down the stretch, Reimer could likely find a job next season. The Sabres would consider welcoming him back, potentially.
“I had some real special moments with these guys and this team,” Reimer said. “It’s been a really enjoyable career. I’m really blessed to have been able to live my dream. I’ve always tried to treat it like a gift and make the most of it. We’ll see what the future holds.”
Whether Reimer comes back or not, he showed the Sabres the value of a reliable veteran goaltender. That should factor into their offseason plan after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s uneven season.