Fantasy preview: Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres surprised the hockey world last season, finishing first in the Northeast Division and making the post-season. Shockingly, hockey experts are predicting that Buffalo will stumble out of the gate in 2010-11.
The Sabres do not possess a lot of fantasy gold, but house a plethora of mid-range talent that can help smooth out the edges of any fantasy hockey roster. Upfront the Sabres are not expected to light the lamp with the likes of the San Jose Sharks or Washington Capitals, but are still capable of accumulating respectable numbers.
On defence the club took a hit over the off-season and will be hoping that youngsters will be able to fill the void. In net they have arguably the League’s best goaltender and the catalyst for success.
Forwards
The Sabres have been scoring by committee for years and 2010-11 is expected to be no different. Buffalo loves to spread the puck around and therefore gives the fantasy player several options when selecting in rounds four to seven. The Sabres top performer is consistently Derek Roy. With Roy you get a player able to notch over 25 goals and record 70 points.
In addition, he is also their centre on the power play and is coming off a season which saw him tally 10 power play points (PP). After Roy you are likely to select Jason Pominville or Thomas Vanek. Pominville is a consistent 60-point man who is reliable at the defensive end, finishing last season at plus-13. Vanek is a pure goal scorer; finishing last season with 28, which was a disappointing year by his standards. Nevertheless, the Austrian born left winger has never scored less than 25 goals in a season and is capable of over 40.
Tim Connolly is also likely to be a mid-round pick. However, he has struggled with injuries throughout his career and seems incapable of finishing a full season. Therefore, if you are going to draft Connelly try and get him late.
The major sleeper for the Sabres up front is rookie Tyler Ennis. Only 20 years old Ennis played in 10 regular season games last year notching nine points and six play-off match-ups, recording four points. Ennis is expected to slot in on Buffalo’s second line and although he is not worth risking a draft pick over he could be a great pick-up off waivers.
Defence
On defence the Sabres are thin and will need all the help they can get from Ryan Miller to keep pucks out of their net. Nevertheless, their number one defender is likely to be sophomore Tyler Myers. Myers is coming off a Calder Trophy season in which the youngster was outstanding. He recorded 11 goals and 48 points, while going plus-13. At 20 years old Myers is only expected to improve and his inflated ice time in 2010-11 should help him accumulate more points.
The only other defender of note is Jordan Leopold, who managed 26 points last year split between the Florida Panthers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Leopold is expected to be one of the Sabres' top defenders and his points may jump because of this. However, he is only worth selecting at the end of a deep draft.
Goaltending
The Sabres are lucky enough to have arguably the League’s best goalie between the pipes in Ryan Miller. Miller is coming off of a Vezina season and will be hoping to build on it in 2010-11. Last year Miller amassed 41 wins and five shut-outs. Expect the Michigan native to play at least 70 games this season leaving back-up Patrick Lalime with very little to do.
The Sabres are full of solid depth players for fantasy rosters and between rounds four and seven the Buffalo roster is sure to come into play. Nevertheless, keep your eye out for Miller and Myers as they are both worth early picks.
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