[The Athletic] Évaluer la division Atlantique de la LNH : les nouveaux venus peuvent-ils renverser les puissances établies ?
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seeldoger47
@Sabres de Buffalo
[The Athletic] Évaluer la division Atlantique de la LNH : les nouveaux venus peuvent-ils renverser les puissances établies ?
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seeldoger47
2 Comments
>#Buffalo Sabres
>**Who’s new:** D Connor Clifton, D Erik Johnson, G Devon Levi
>**Who’s gone:** G Craig Anderson, D Ilya Lyubushkin
>**Reason for optimism:** The Sabres missed the playoffs by just one point last season despite having the youngest roster in the NHL both in terms of age and games of experience. The roster will still be young by age but will have a valuable season of experience upon which to draw. The Sabres have a stronger defensive core with the additions of Clifton and Johnson. They think Levi is the type of goalie who can be an instant upgrade even in his first full NHL season. They are already one of the best offensive teams in hockey. They only need to be an average team in terms of preventing goals in order to make another jump in the standings.
>**Reason for concern:** Levi looked outstanding in the seven NHL games he played last season, but he’s still an unproven first-year goalie and the Sabres don’t have another proven option on the roster. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen just completed his first full season in the NHL and struggled with consistency. Eric Comrie has mostly been a backup in his career and had two separate injuries that prevented him from proving he could be a starter last season. The main reason the Sabres missed the playoffs in 2022-23 was their inability to keep the puck out of the net. That was due to a combination of a lack of attention to detail on defense and inconsistent goaltending. The Sabres are taking a risk on a few unproven options in net.
>**Bold prediction:** Levi handles the bulk of the starts. He might be inexperienced, but the Sabres believe he’s up to the task of being a starter in the NHL. They had him skip rookie camp to focus on competing for a job in the NHL, which shows me they’re ready to give him the biggest workload of the bunch. Their success this season could ride on how well he handles it.
>— *Matthew Fairburn*
I feel like saying Levi wouldn’t handle the bulk of the starts is more of a bold prediction at this point hahah