It’s been 13 seasons since the Buffalo Sabres made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the longest drought in the NHL. Heading into the 2023-24 season, they’re not guaranteed a spot, but certainly taking steps in the right direction to get there.
The Sabres added solid pieces to their offense like Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Aside from Zucker, those are depth and bottom six forward options, but they’ll still bolster the lineup.
Former Sabres netminder Martin Biron joined NHL Network to discuss the steps Buffalo is taking as a franchise, and a lot of it started with bringing back Lindy Ruff as the head coach.
“The first thing is Lindy Ruff,” Biron said. “As soon as the Sabres hired Lindy Ruff, there was a nostalgia that came back. I think people quickly realized Lindy Ruff is still a really good coach.”
Ruff has been an NHL head coach since 1997 and spent 16 years with the Sabres from 1997 to 2013. In that time the Sabres made it as far as the Eastern Conference Final three time and the Stanley Cup Final in 1999.
Behind the bench for the Sabres, Ruff racked up 571 regular season wins and 101 playoff wins. Both are franchise records by wide margins.
Biron also noted that the Sabres did a good job building out their depth and bottom six, but they have to rely on the core to make it back to the postseason. The main group of Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuck are expected to lead this group back to prominence.
“You can add as many pieces as you want, but that’s the core that’s going to get you to the playoffs,” Biron said. “The Chicago Blackhawks of the 2010s… the Pittsburgh Penguins have had the core, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had the core.”
The Blackhawks, Penguins, and Lightning all have something in common and that’s multiple Stanley Cup championships with a notable core group of players. The Sabres have their core group and are looking to follow in the footsteps of those dynasties.
"That's the core the Sabres are hoping they can build on."
