Who among the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabers will dominate in the next decade? This is the first installment of a four-day analysis series. Today: Sabers.
Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde made an astonishing statement on Tuesday during his team’s visit to the Bell Center.
Lalonde justified the sale of players at the trade deadline, and thereby the renunciation of the race for the playoffs, by the reconstruction strategy of the Canadiens, the Sabers and the Senators.
“We are a product of our division,” he said. It’s one thing to have Boston, Toronto and Tampa in our section, but on top of that, with Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal in their rebuilding, they drafted more players at higher ranks than us. We still have a lot of work to do. »
Unlike the Senators, Wings GM Steve Yzerman preferred to accumulate more draft picks in order to better position himself long-term against these direct rivals.
With the salary cap, the cycles are not eternal. In a few years, the Bruins, the Leafs and the Lightning will experience more difficult years. The Atlantic section should be dominated by today’s builders.
Much like the Oilers, the Avalanche, the Stars are doing in the west, with the Sharks and Ducks, dominant for a decade, now in the basement of the standings.
The Sabers have taken a long time, with a three-step rebuild, but they will be strong at all positions. They have not one, but two young up-and-coming Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, two first picks overall. Dahlin is already entering his prime at 22 with 68 points in 72 games. Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju complement them well, but eventually they could count on another young first. In the next draft maybe?
The talent and depth on offense are mind-blowing. Acquired in the trade of Ryan O’Reilly, Tage Thompson is already among the elite of the NHL at 25 years old. The 6-foot-6 right-handed center has 90 points in 74 games.
Behind him in the center is Dylan Cozens, 6-foot-3, seventh overall pick in 2019, already 63 points in 75 games at just 22 years old. Peyton Krebs, 22, is expected to hatch, the 17th pick in 2019. Krebs, one of O’Reilly’s trade pieces, has 24 points in 68 games.
As if Buffalo didn’t have enough of Thompson and Cozens, they drafted three centers in the first round of the 2022 draft: Matthew Savoie (9th), Noah Östlund (16th) and Jiri Kulich (28th).
Savoie has 95 points in 62 games in Winnipeg of the Junior League West. He could eventually be transferred to the wing due to his small size. Östlund had 26 points in 37 games in Djurgardens, Sweden, by far the best performance of the young Swedish trio drafted in the first round, ahead of Liam Öhgren and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
Kulich could make the Canadian regret having preferred Filip Mesar to him two rows earlier. He posted 43 points in 57 games in his first season in the American League.
Talent and the next generation are not lacking on the wing either. Jeff Skinner has a monstrous contract, but he’s entering his thirties and he’s having another good season with 73 points, including 33 goals, in as many games. Alex Tuch is just 26 years old and has 72 points, including just 35 goals, in 68 games. Victor Olofsson, 27, scored 26 goals.
Jack Quinn, 21, didn’t explode in his first season in the NHL like he did in the American League last year when he had 61 points in 45 games, but he still scored 14 goals.
In goal, the eventual number one has been identified: Montreal’s Devon Levi, freshly signed. The 21-year-old is coming off his first two NHL games. He shows an average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .942. He joins the line of smaller goaltenders, at 6 feet, like Juuse Saros in Nashville.
Not only do the Sabers have the best relief of the quartet of rebuilding teams in the Atlantic, they have the best record at the moment, 37-32-7, as many points as the Senators, but two games in hand.
They owe their progress to the pedagogical qualities of their new trainer Don Granato, and to the patience of the new GM Kevyn Adams.
Unlike its predecessors, this one has chosen to take two steps back to better advance. Since joining in 2020, he’s traded his 2021 leading scorer, Sam Reinhart, to the Panthers for Devon Levi and a 2022 first-round pick (Jiri Kulich) and Jack Eichel to Vegas, among other things, for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick (Noah Östlund) and a 2023 second-round pick.
The Sabers’ first-round pick this summer currently sits at No. 13. They also have three second-round picks. They have their hands full…
(Tomorrow: Detroit Red Wings)
The Penguins have just lost the last place giving access to the playoffs. They were handily beaten by the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, 5-1, and the Florida Panthers won 2-1 against Buffalo.
Pittsburgh finds itself this morning one point behind the Panthers and Islanders, the last two qualified clubs for the time being, with only four games to go.
“We’re disappointed,” coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. We didn’t play well. We have been dominated. We can only learn a lesson and do better in the next game. We have to stay in the fight. We are still there. »
The Penguins end the season against the Wild, the Red Wings and the poor Blackhawks and Blue Jackets.
The Islanders will play against the Lightning and three eliminated clubs, the Flyers, the Capitals and the Canadiens. The Panthers have a tougher challenge against Ottawa, Washington, Toronto and Carolina.
An exclusion from the playoffs in Pittsburgh could lead to a major administrative cleaning, but a youth turn will be more difficult to initiate since Crosby, Malkin, Rust, Granlund, Rakell, Letang and Petry are all under contract for at least two more years minimum.
1- Justin Vézina introduces us to the new goalkeeper signed by the Canadiens, Jakub Dobes, freshly arrived in Laval.
2- The Canadian will become, this Thursday evening, the 32nd and last NHL team to hold its Pride evening this season. In recent months, these displays of solidarity with the LGBTQ community have become a source of controversy for several clubs. Simon-Olivier Lorange takes stock.
3- Tiger Woods has changed in recent years. At the dawn of the Augusta Masters, Nicholas Richard introduces us to the new Tiger.
