The Buffalo Sabres are on something of a high as they ride their relatively-modest two-game win streak into the next two games — both of which come against the mediocre Toronto Maple Leafs. The small wave of goodwill will disappear for the Sabres if they lose those two games, and lose them in regulation time. So while these aren’t necessarily must-win games, they are important games for Buffalo against a division rival that won the Atlantic Division last season.
Meanwhile, you don’t have to look very far to find a former Sabres player who is thriving outside of Buffalo. In Vegas, the Golden Knights made former Sabres star center Jack Eichel their highest-paid player as of next season, and he’s responded to the raise by leading the Golden Knights in point production, with 16 points in only seven games. Winger J.J. Peterka, the up-and-comer who no longer wanted to do that in Buffalo, is having a decent year with the Utah Mammoth. Heck, even Jeff Skinner is doing positive things in San Jose.
And don’t look now, but even former Sabres star center Dylan Cozens is doing big things as a member of the Ottawa Senators. In seven games, Cozens has put up four goals and six points for the Sens, who acquired him in the trade that sent often-injured star center Josh Norris — the same Norris who currently is on the sidelines after being injured in Buffalo’s first game of the season.Â
It all has to be so grating on the nerves of Sabres fans to watch players constantly leave Western New York and succeed elsewhere. We’re not suggesting Buffalo fans are callous and negative when it comes to Sabres alumni; it’s just a fact of life that you want to see players succeed in your city, and when that doesn’t happen — only to happen for them in a different town — there’s a mix of anger, frustration and sadness that the player and your team couldn’t make it work.
The Sabres have a long road to travel on the journey back to respectability. And yes, one of the reasons they have failed to provide much joy to Buffalo fans is the fact that players like Florida Panthers star forward Sam Reinhart were allowed to come and go, finding Cup-winning success in another NHL market. It all felt so negative in Buffalo, because the fact of the matter is that it was, in fact, so negative in Buffalo. And it will be again this season if Buffalo’s Stanley Cup playoff drought extends to 15 years.
Sabres management should’ve found a way to make it work for at least some of the former Sabres players we’ve mentioned in this column. Buffalo experienced losing and disappointment with those same players, but somebody in another organization figured out how they could become winners, and they did what they needed to do to acquire and integrate those players into their system.
That’s what hurts the most here — this problem is a problem largely of the Sabres’ making. They couldn’t figure out how to keep young players in their system and groom them into difference-makers and needle-movers. It was a combination of poor projecting, management missteps, and problematic coaching that put Buffalo in the position they’re currently in. And nothing short of a sustained turnaround in the standings is going to satisfy Sabres fans who have to be exhausted watching a parade out of town rather than a championship parade in-town.
Seeing Cozens do well in Ottawa also hurts because he’s now a divisional rival of the Sabres. But that’s the deal Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams agreed to last season. And now, the ramifications of the trade are starting to become apparent — and not in a good way for the Sabres.
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