It would definitely surprise me if the Sabres finished ahead next year unless it’s like last year again where they both suck but the Sabres just suck a bit less. I think there’s a better chance the Sabres would be better in the long term than them being better next year. You bring up the playing good defense without sacrificing the offense. I cannot see that happening with Lindy. We got that for one year with the Devils and I don’t think it was a coincidence that year came when Brunette was here. Then he was gone again and we were back to being a complete mess
There were a lot of changes, and the Sabres have a lot of individual talent that it wouldn't surprise me much. A few reasons:
- New coaches, so we'll see what Ruff can do. I hear that you are skeptical, but sometimes a new coach can give a team a bump just because they aren't complacent/comfortable anymore.
- Powerplay was 29th last year, which is awful. Sabres have the talent to have a top 10 powerplay. I think this is mostly down to coaching. We'll see if it's better this year.
- All the young players are another year older. Ideally they would trend towards getting more consistent with more experience.
- Injuries were pretty bad last year. Lost Quinn and Samuelsson for the entire season pretty much. Lost Thompson for a solid chunk of the year, and wasn't himself until the end of the season.
- A lot of turnover in the bottom 6. The Sabres went out and pretty much bought a brand new bottom 6. It should improve (can't really get much worse).
So much has changed, I honestly don't know what will happen. It wouldn't surprise me if they were 2nd in the division or a slight regression from last year.