Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill had the difficult task of walking a tightrope at the 2020 NHL trade deadline. His Sabres team hadn't really given him a clear direction as to where they were headed this season and prior to the trade deadline they posted a 7-6-1 record in 13 games between the All-Star break and the deadline. The beginning of that stretch started out rough with two home losses against very beatable teams and had everyone leaning towards selling at the deadline. It ended with two very diverse and convincing wins against two playoff teams. In the middle there were highs and lows.
Moving forward Buffalo will need to put together an impressive final 20 games to land the only spot they have a shot at. The Sabres are 29-25-8 right now which puts them on a pace for 87 points. They'll need to up that pace as 96 points might be the benchmark they'll need to shoot for to land the third spot in the Atlantic Division, which is somewhere akin to a 14-4-2 record.
Showing posts with label 2020 Trade Deadline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2020 Trade Deadline. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Monday, February 24, 2020
Buffalo Sabres 2020 NHL Trade Deadline conundrum
It would have been easy if the Buffalo Sabres came out of the All-Star Break definitively moving in one direction or another. When the Sabres returned from an elongated break which saw their "bye week" backed up against the All-Star festivities, Buffalo sat 10 points out of third in the Atlantic Division and 11 points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Although it was still a longshot to make the playoffs, the Sabres had 33 games left to play and nine of their next 10 games were at home where they were sporting a 14-6-3 record at the time.
If they could get on a little run during this home stretch Buffalo could conceivably be in the thick of a playoff race and with two games off the bat at home against the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, neither of whom were powerhouses, getting off to a hot start certainly would fuel hope that they could pull something off in the 13 games leading up to today's trade deadline.
Whelp, it didn't go as planned. Buffalo put up a stinker in the 5-2 loss vs. Ottawa and although they were better against Montreal, they came up short, 3-1. However, even with those two losses, they still remained 10 points out of third place and 11 points out of the second wild card spot.
If they could get on a little run during this home stretch Buffalo could conceivably be in the thick of a playoff race and with two games off the bat at home against the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, neither of whom were powerhouses, getting off to a hot start certainly would fuel hope that they could pull something off in the 13 games leading up to today's trade deadline.
Whelp, it didn't go as planned. Buffalo put up a stinker in the 5-2 loss vs. Ottawa and although they were better against Montreal, they came up short, 3-1. However, even with those two losses, they still remained 10 points out of third place and 11 points out of the second wild card spot.
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