There was an EP Rinkside article this week talking about the teams with the best and worst salary cap situations. It doesn't take a crystal ball to see how good Buffalo could be. After being so incompetent for over a decade they're going to be a problem. They have such an embarrassment of riches. Tage, Cozens, Tuch, Skinner, Mittelstadt, Dahlin, Power. That top line were some of the best 5v5 players in the league last year. Does Tage prove he's a legit #1 center or was it a fluke, the difference between being a +90 point player and a 70 point player is big. Tuch and Skinner were top liners last year. Are those 3 able to maintain that level of play? Cozens and Mittelstadt took huge leaps last season. Then you look at the next tier... Quinn, Peterka and Krebs proved they're NHL players, huge upside there. What do they do with Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson? Obviously they're gonna lock up the Dahlin & Power. They committed big to Samuelsson. 3 LHD, majority of the season they've spent someone playing their offhand. Devon Levis has outstanding potential in net. Those are all just the main pieces, they've got some solid spare parts as well.
That's already an incredibly strong foundation, then you dig into their prospect pool... absurd. Savoie, Benson, Rosén, Kulich, Östlund, Wahlberg. Some blue chip guys there and number of other unmentioned prospects. Wtf are they gonna do with all of them!
This was a team that took major steps last year, 1 win away from a playoff spot. They should use one of their million forward prospects to land a RHD, whether that be current help or a prospect, they need to address that. That's the upside of being so asset rich, they already have a solid NHL group, they'll be able to address any hole they need in the future. That's what happens when you miss the playoffs 12 years in a row