The Buffalo Sabres have spent so long living in the league’s awkward middle that it almost became their identity. Not bad enough to bottom out every year, not good enough to break through, and stuck in that frustrating zone where the draft lottery offers hope but the standings never really do.
That’s the backdrop for a recent Daily Faceoff piece from Scott Maxwell, who ranked the NHL’s five most mediocre teams over the past 10 years. His definition of mediocre was built around the teams with the fewest playoff appearances, fewest playoff series wins, Top 5 picks and 100-point seasons - a framework that captures both the lack of success and the lack of true collapse.
Buffalo checked in at No. 3 on the list.
That placement makes sense when you look at the numbers. Over the past decade, the Sabres have had just one playoff appearance, one playoff series win and one 100-point season, all of which came this past season. They also had three Top 5 draft picks, though one of those came in the latest NHL Draft after they traded for the fourth overall pick with the Blackhawks.
Even with that history, the Sabres are no longer being viewed through the same lens as before. Maxwell noted, "Perhaps seeing the Sabres crack this list after last season is a surprise, since all signs point to the team finally turning things around after a 14-year playoff drought. The Sabres might not be mediocre anymore, but it doesn’t change how they were the worst team in the league for many, many years before then."
And that’s the part that matters now: Buffalo has started to collect the kind of young talent that can actually move a team out of the mushy middle. The Sabres haven’t had a pile of Top 5 picks, but they’ve spent plenty of time drafting in the top half of the first round, and that has begun to show.
Former first-rounders Jack Quinn, Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, Zach Benson and Konsta Helenius are part of that next wave, alongside the more obvious cornerstones in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
It took far longer than anyone around the team wanted, but the Sabres finally look like a club with real direction. The pieces are there now for Buffalo to stop being a cautionary tale about mediocrity and start looking like a consistent playoff contender.
In Other News...
Sabres Suddenly Have One Contract Under More Pressure Than Ever
Buffalos long-term outlook looks a lot healthier than it did not all that long ago, and Dom Luszczyszyns latest salary-cap efficiency ranking only reinforces that. The Sabres have climbed to No. 7 on the list, a reflection of a young core that is giving the front office real value for its money and a financial picture that is starting to look more sustainable than shaky.
Still, not every deal in the system is sitting on equal footing. Beck Malenstyns six-year extension has already drawn scrutiny, and Owen Powers seven-year contract now feels like one of the more important storylines on the roster as he heads into a season that could go a long way toward defining how that investment is judged. With Bowen Byram gone, Power should see a bigger role on the offensive side of the puck, and Buffalo has a lot riding on whether that added responsibility turns into the kind of growth the Sabres have been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]
Dominik Hasek Just Reignited Buffalos Greatest Player Debate
Dominik Haseks place in Buffalo sports history has never really been in doubt, but a new all-time greats concept has put fresh fuel on the old question of where he fits in the Sabres pantheon. Hasek is already widely viewed as the greatest goaltender in NHL history and the most decorated player to wear a Buffalo sweater, a rsum built on a remarkable run of individual hardware and the kind of nightly impact that made the Sabres relevant on the leagues biggest stages.
What makes the debate linger is the gap between Haseks brilliance and the one thing that never came to Buffalo with him: a Stanley Cup. He later won two championships in Detroit, which only sharpens the contrast with his Sabres years, when he was carrying the franchise while the team came agonizingly close to hockeys ultimate prize. Even now, with Gilbert Perreault still looming in the franchise record book, Haseks legacy remains the standard by which every other Sabres great gets measured. [Read more 🡒]