the hockey news is slowly releasing their predictions for the up-coming season...you can get the full release through the magazine itself or wait for the daily place-by-place release...sports illustrated.com's allan muir has jumped in early as well with his preseason rankings...both have the sabres 2nd in the northeast, 6th in the conference...here's what they had to say:
the hockey news--
"Where this team ultimately ends up clearly depends on goaltender Ryan Miller. When the reigning Vezina Trophy winner is healthy, the Sabres are lethal; when he’s out of the lineup, well, the Sabres struggle to maintain a place in the top eight. Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder were the noteworthy losses in the off-season, though free agent signee Jordan Leopold should replace at least some of Lydman’s offense and Shaone Morrisonn should step in nicely for Tallinder. Rob Niedermayer was brought in to provide some depth on the forward lines, but it’s the headliners Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville and Derek Roy who need to find their production from a few years ago. Also, if Tyler Ennis can continue what was a promising performance at the end of the season and in the playoffs, Buffalo will have another source of offense."
si.com--
"Is Ryan Miller still under contract? Then the Sabres are fine. Still, is there anything other than the presence of the world's best goalie to get the fans' blood pumping this season? Replacing Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman on the blueline with Shaone Morrisonn and Jordan Leopold rates a massive meh, and while Rob Niedermayer will bring an honest effort, he's a diminishing resource. If you liked that first-round exit last season, get ready for more of the same."
yup, sho'nuff, as miller goes, so do the sabres...and #6 isn't really a bad prediction for a team that, on the surface, made lateral moves...thus far...
on d, you basically have a bigger version of lydman in morrison and a very similiar player in hank when it comes to leopold...although leopold may end up doubling hank's production, morrison may not get as many points as lydman...
on the bottom-six, neidermeyer/mcmuscle (snicker, snicker) in, mair/ellis out...an upgrade if just for the simple fact that neidermeyer has a cup-ring...
the wild card here will be tyler ennis...sure, you could say that there's a ennis for tim kennedy swap, but we're looking at a top-six in the former and a bottom-six in the latter...
then there's patty lalime...meh, probably can't do any worse than last season...
all-in-all, it doesn't look as if the sabres did too much in the off-season...on the surface, but, then again, it didn't look like the they did that much last season with the additions of grier and monty...
will be tracking all the "experts" predictions for the blue and gold and will look at the team in-depth as they're about to begin the season...
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