The regular season is creeping ever closer for the Buffalo Sabres, and with preseason and prospect camps drawing even closer, there will be plenty of hockey action on the way very soon. With all of that on the near horizon, it is time to look at which players will likely be leading this team on the stats sheet by the end of the season. Some choices will feel more obvious than others, but with a lineup that features a lot of returning players, the variety is fairly limited. That is not to say that the excitement surrounding how many goals will be scored, how many wins will be had, or how many hits will be thrown will be diminished in any way; if anything, having re-hired coach Lindy Ruff back behind the bench will only enhance some of these stats. Now, let’s have a look to see how things stack up compared to last season’s expectations.
Sabres’ Offensive Leaders
Last season, the Sabres took a step back from the dominance that they were showing in the prior 2022-23 season scoring pace, as they were plagued with some key injuries to Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn for extended periods of time. On top of that, they never really found the right rhythm to be the same kind of offensive threat that they used to be, and it caused a significant decline in their production as a whole. This led to Thompson being the leading goal scorer with 29, Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin being tied for the points lead with 59, and Dahlin having the assists lead with 39. All of them can do better, and other young guns are waiting to push the envelope on the offensive side too.
Going into this season, the expectations are for all of them to grow and bump those numbers up by a good amount; not by anything astronomical, but certainly by a noticeable amount that will have them in the playoff hunt with other top teams in the league. JJ Peterka is a player to watch as he continues to grow in his role in the top six and he may challenge as one of the top-scoring players. Quinn is also healthy and is poised for a breakout season in a lot of ways. Quinn being a top-tier goal-scoring talent has all the right tools to push for the title on the team, and it would not shock me to see him racing with Thompson all season for it.
Sabres’ Defensive Leaders
The Sabres’ defensive core is really the same as it was last season. Excluding the late-season acquisition of Bowen Byram from the Colorado Avalanche, the core still consists of Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…