Buffalo Sabres

One of the best things about hockey is the uncertainty. We make our predictions, study the game to death, pretend to understand the charts that say the players we like are good and hope for the best. A lot of the time all of the preparation works out, but sometimes hockey forces us to throw it all out the window and enjoy the ride.

The 2022-23 NHL season isn't even one month old yet and there's already so much to be wrong about. Yay! I'm sure we'll get to the unpleasant surprises eventually, but for now, why don't we enjoy the good?

As it turns out, a lot of the pleasant surprises through the first two weeks of the season are oddly connected to each other. Noted Ottawa Senators fan Alanis Morissette said it best, "Life has a funny way of helping you out." Clearly, she was talking about the Vegas Golden Knights.

Anyway, let's take a look at the most pleasant surprises in the NHL while the season's still a baby.

1. Rasmus Dahlin and the Sabres

Breaking news, folks: 2018 first overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin might actually be good.

Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever learn our lesson when it comes to this stuff, but let Dahlin's current tear be another reminder to have some patience with the guys who go straight to the NHL. Next time an 18-year-old draft pick joins a bad team and doesn't immediately blow us all out of the water, shall we give it a few years? No? A girl can dream.

Looking back with context, Dahlin wasn't ever even performing at a level where I'd seriously think he was a bust. He was on a great trajectory before the pandemic, struggled along with his team in 2020-21 and showed more spurts of potential in 2021-22 with 13 goals and 53 points in 80 games. Of course, those spurts of potential came when Dahlin had a greater opportunity following Rasmus Ristolainen's trade, and they also came with a bad plus/minus—such is life as the best defenseman on a bad team.

But is the 22-year-old entering his true breakout season now, following a full season of important experience?

Six games in and the Buffalo Sabres are 4-2-0, and it was a particularly vibey 4-1-0 before Tuesday night's 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Dahlin is currently leading all NHL defensemen in points with nine and goals with five in six games played, and the five-game season-starting goal streak he just snapped became an NHL record among defensemen.

Then there's goaltender Craig Anderson at the top of the league with his 2-0, 1.0 goals against average and .970 save percentage. We aren't kidding ourselves into believing this two-game sample means more than it does, but it's a good start.

All of this and we haven't even touched on Alex Tuch's seven points in six games or Tage Thompson's hot start, including his selection of "Fishin' in the Dark" for his goal song.

Obviously, it's ridiculous to read too much into things less than a month into the season, and like many, I've been fooled by a Sabres hot start or two in the very recent past. But I like what I see here, we'll see how they bounce back from this big loss to Seattle, and sometimes giving people room to spread their wings is the only way they get off the ground…

2. Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights

Speaking of the Sabres, Jack Eichel is off to a hot start in Vegas with three goals and seven points in eight games. The Golden Knights are doing better than expected in general at 6-2-0.

Eichel's hot start accounted for, you also have to give credit to goalie Logan Thompson, who has worked himself up from the ECHL to Vegas' No. 1 with Robin Lehner likely out for the season following hip surgery. Adin Hill hasn't been a shabby 1a, either.

I described every team with one word heading into the season, and for the Golden Knights, that word was "karma." They'd been flying too close to the sun with all the cap-space maneuvers and coaching hot seats already amassing in their short team history. It looks like they listened to Taylor Swift's new album, Midnights, and adopted her philosophy on karma—"Karma's a relaxing thought"—instead of mine, though.

There's also ironman Phil Kessel, who exudes good karma and sweats blue Powerade everywhere he goes.

And finally, there's new head coach Bruce Cassidy, who the team snatched up just over one week after the Boston Bruins somewhat surprisingly let him go. Now that I've laid it all out like this, I'm starting to feel bad about ever wishing ill upon this team…

3. The Bruins

Speaking of the Bruins, I tried to warn y'all that this team is not done. Despite the naysayers, Boston is 6-1-0 to start the season—and yes, Bostonians, I will mention they're doing that without Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy before you beat me to it in the comments.

What's working?

David Pastrňák, aka Mr. Blank Check, for starters.

Pastrňák not only has five goals and 12 points in seven games, but he's making it look fun in true Pastrňák fashion. That's an easy one, especially with his friend David Krejčí back in the mix. Arguably even more encouraging for the Bruins has been their scoring depth. Of all who have skated in every Bruins game, everyone except Tomáš Nosek has recorded at least one point. Twelve have recorded a goal, and Nick Foligno's three goals already surpass last season's total.

I've long thought this team's performance can be measured in Jake DeBrusk's vibes per 60. If DeBrusk looks like he's having a good time, you can bet the team is in a good place, and this kid seems like he's having the time of his life these days.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark is also having a strong start with a 5-0-0 record and a .936 save percentage.

4. The Flyers

This is where the connections end unless we really want to stretch it and tie Foligno's hot start to his former coach and current Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella.

Say what you will about Torts and his no-nonsense approach, and it definitely doesn't work for everyone, but at least for now it's seeming to jibe with the Philly market and apparently with what was supposed to be a bottom-five team in the league. The Flyers are a team that needed Torts if there ever was one. They started out the season undefeated through three games and currently sit at 4-2-0. I do think the team will trend down sooner rather than later, the offense is already severely lacking at times, and it doesn't help that James van Riemsdyk is going to be out for at least one month after finger surgery.

But what's the point in saying all this when we weren't even expecting a hot start to begin with out of this team? Enjoy it while it lasts.

5. The Retro Reverse Jerseys

The NHL released its latest set of alternate jerseys via Adidas last week, and it might be my favorite batch of jerseys the league has ever put together. Between the Panthers' ode to Florida, the Bruins' ode to the Pooh Bear and the Tampa Bay Lightning's ode to a throwback so bad that it's good, I was thoroughly impressed. I loved that teams were branching out and giving the people what they actually want. More fun, please!

Three professional sports teams in Buffalo raised more than $1 million for victims of the mass shooting that took place in the city last month and the East Buffalo community, per ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg.

On May 14, 10 people were killed and three more were injured when a man fired 50 shots at a supermarket in what authorities called a "racially motivated hate crime." The store is located in a predominantly Black community and all 10 people who were killed were Black.

The NFL's Buffalo Bills, NHL's Buffalo Sabres and National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits joined together to sell T-shirts with the team logos and the text, "Choose Love." The proceeds go to the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund and the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund.

Each of these funds were created to help families of the victims as well as the needs of the community following the shooting.

About 50 Bills players volunteered in the days following the tragedy, serving food while wearing black "Choose Love" T-shirts.

We love you and we grieve with you, Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/S75ZiSVbym

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 18, 2022

"'Choose Love'—it's a motto that I think maybe that we should start adopting as a country," quarterback Josh Allen said. "It's the golden rule, treating those as you'd wanna be treated. Again, what happened here was ... it's disgusting, despicable and there's so many different words you can use and none of them are nice."

In addition to the proceeds from the T-shirt sales, the Buffalo Bills Foundation teamed with the NFL Foundation to donate $400,000 to local response efforts following the shooting.

The Montreal Canadiens went from a Stanley Cup Final in 2021 to picking No. 1 overall in the 2022 NHL draft during a year in which the Habs are hosting the event at Bell Centre.

What a wild year it's been for one of the NHL's most historic franchises. Montreal is going to party like it's 1993. 

Shane Wright is the projected first overall pick. There has been some debate as to whether or not the OHL center is worthy of the honor after a slow start to the season, but 94 points in 63 games with the Kingston Frontenacs was good enough to land him on top of the NHL's Central Scouting bureau's latest prospect rankings. 

The New Jersey Devils are picking second, marking the fourth time in six years the club has selected in the top five. The Arizona Coyotes, who had the second-best odds to land the first pick, will select third, the Seattle Kraken fourth and the Philadelphia Flyers will go fifth. 

The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings won a few too many games and they'll go seventh and eighth, respectively. The Columbus Blue Jackets got the Chicago Blackhawks' sixth pick as part of the terms of the Seth Jones trade and they'll make two selections in the first round. 

Let's take a look at some of the highs and lows from the night with draft lottery winners and losers. 

Winner: Montreal Canadiens

Wright should start brushing up on his French. 

The OHL forward is one of eight players in CHL history to be granted exceptional status and he was clearly worthy, scoring 39 goals in 58 games as a 15-year-old. A speedy, skilled center like Wright is the perfect building block piece for a team like the Habs. Putting Wright behind Nick Suzuki will give them a 1-2 punch up the middle that can grow together as new general manager Kent Hughes and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton build around those two and winger Cole Caufield. 

Last year, the Canadiens were the talk of the draft for the wrong reason. Former general manager Marc Bergevin stood at the podium at Bell Centre and defiantly chose Logan Mailloux, a prospect who had asked teams not to choose him after he was convicted of a crime of sexual nature in Sweden. There was some concern that it would damage the brand and isolate women who support the team. 

But Bergevin was fired less than two months into the 2021-22 season and he's now working under Rob Blake in Los Angeles. It's a new era in Montreal, and though it likely won't be a successful one right away, the team has turned the page and the excitement is rapidly building. 

Loser: Philadelphia Flyers

This is a big offseason for general manager Chuck Fletcher. The Flyers don't have a coach, a clear team identity or a clear direction in which the team is headed. The club has decided to stick with the GM it hired in the fall of 2018 as they attempt an "aggressive retool" after a season Fletcher described as "beyond unacceptable." 

It's not that the fifth pick is bad. The general consensus is that this is a very good draft class, but one that still has some question marks after Wright.

Maybe they end up with another center like Matthew Savoie, a very skilled and disciplined playmaker. Maybe it's a big defenseman like David Jiricek they can pair with Ivan Provorov in the future (should they keep Provorov).

The 2023 class is absolutely loaded, but this one has a lot of high-end talent, so the Flyers are going to get a quality player and a possible franchise cornerstone. It just might not be one that makes an impact right away. Fletcher said he's not asking fans to wait 5-7 years for a winning product and a player like Wright, who could step into a lineup next season, would have helped expedite that retool. 

Winner: New Jersey Devils

The Devils have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to prospects these days, which is a change from some lottery seasons a few years ago. The cupboards were pretty bare when they took Swiss center Nico Hischier at No. 1 overall in 2017. They can add another talented young player to that stockpile with the second overall pick.

Things were looking up three years ago when they chose Jack Hughes with the first overall pick, but things quickly fell apart. And now the club is at a crossroads: This rebuild cannot last forever. 

The fans have been angry for years since this was not a club that really underwent any significant rebuilds when longtime former general manager and president Lou Lamoriello was running the show. But they've made the playoffs just once since 2012 and this last season was marred by injuries to top players like Hughes and Dougie Hamilton and bad goaltending. 

They won't find that goaltender with the No. 2 pick, but it could help them obtain one.

Could general manager Tom Fitzgerald be swayed to give it up for a true No. 1 goalie? He seemed to be open to the possibility last week when he addressed the media in his end-of-season press conference, saying if he see a trade that would upgrade the NHL roster he would not hesitate to make it.

The Anaheim Ducks are rebuilding, and John Gibson is rumored to be on the market. Or maybe it's an impact defenseman to play with Hamilton or a high-end winger for Hughes. 

There are tons of possibilities and the Devils are in a good spot with that second pick. 

Loser: Arizona Coyotes

All that tanking and the desert dogs only got the third pick. 

Look, it's not that the No. 3 overall pick is a bad thing, but a player like Wright would bring some much-needed excitement and talent to a team in desperate need of both. 

The Coyotes will play next season and possibly beyond at Arizona State's new rink. No offense to the Sun Devils because that program is a great success story of the growth of hockey in an untraditional market, but an NHL team shouldn't be playing in a 5000-seat college rink intended for intramural sports. The morale is low in the desert right now and for good reason.

Arizona can continue tanking next season to get Connor Bedard or Matvei Michkov. Maybe by the time Michkov, a KHL player who is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg through 2025, is able to play in North America the new arena in Tempe that has long been promised will finally be completed. 

Winner: Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres have a whopping three first-round picks, while the Blue Jackets have two lottery picks. Both teams have options when it comes to using those selections. 

Columbus didn't move up or down, but it did get the Blackhawks first-round pick. Had Chicago won either of the top two picks, the Blue Jackets would have received the first-round pick next year. Chicago did Columbus a solid with such a dismal season but not too dismal, and as a result the team received the sixth pick and the Jones trade was finally completed.

Last season, the Blue Jackets used two of their 2021 draftees, Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger, and saw good production and development from both. They're hoping to replicate that success as they build toward becoming a playoff team in the near future.

This is a chance for the Sabres to grab a few more prospects and show that they have improved their player development program. So far, it appears as though strides have been made in this area, as is evidenced by center Tage Thompson and his breakout season, but these next few years be crucial for a franchise that tries to shed its losing reputation and prove that it can develop talent and build a winning team. 

Loser: Chicago Blackhawks

This was the result of bad management. The 'Hawks went all in last summer and as a result, they gave up that pick in the Jones trade. Former general manager Stan Bowman made a short-sighted decision to try and load up in an attempt to give Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews one more chance at a Stanley Cup. But Bowman resigned amid following the investigation of the sexual assault allegations against Brad Aldrich and the team was bad right from the start. They fired coach Jeremy Colliton and Derek King still has the interim tag. 

The Blackhawks took the interim tag off of general manager Kyle Davidson, and it sure sounds like he's going to start rebuilding. A first-round pick sure would help jump-start a rebuild, but the 'Hawks will have to wait until next year to select one.

The Buffalo Sabres signed 2021 first overall NHL draft pick Owen Power to a three-year entry-level contract Friday, and the rookie defenseman is reportedly set to make his NHL debut Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News.

The deal comes after Power and the Michigan Wolverines were eliminated from the NCAA tournament with a loss to Denver in the Frozen Four on Thursday night.

https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/1512508113219473419

Maize & Blue 👉 Blue & Gold #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/tvP8x92lYB

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 8, 2022

It’s official.

Owen Power will wear ﹟2️⃣5️⃣! pic.twitter.com/uljetItlw9

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 8, 2022

Power is one of just four first overall picks in Sabres history. Buffalo also drafted Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall in 2018, and he has grown into a promising blueliner. 

Power spent the last two seasons at Michigan. During his 2021-22 sophomore season, he tallied three goals and 29 assists for 32 points in 33 games. It followed up a freshman season in which he notched three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 26 games. 

The 19-year-old also represented Canada at the Winter Olympics, tallying one assist in five games.

Power is expected to be a regular in the Sabres lineup and could possibly slot in behind Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson on the team's third defensive pairing. However, he could also see some time on the right side alongside Dahlin or Samuelsson if he excels. 

Power is one of several Michigan players who are expected to sign NHL deals in the coming weeks. Kent Johnson agreed to a three-year entry-level deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, and Matty Beniers is expected to sign his entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken. 

The Sabres have struggled to a 26-35-11 record this season and sit sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo will be hoping the addition of Power helps set it in the right direction. 

The Buffalo Sabres will be without goaltender Aaron Dell for three games.

The NHL announced it suspended Dell three games for his interference penalty during Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators. The goaltender lowered his shoulder and sent Ottawa's Drake Batherson into the boards with a hard check behind the net.

Video from the league's player safety account explained the punishment was in part because Dell was aware of Batherson's path, initiated the contact and hit him in a way that was not an incidental collision. Batherson, who suffered an ankle injury on the play, also didn't have the puck and was not someone who could legally be body-checked into the boards.

"I was just trying to buy some time for my defenseman and step into [Batherson's] lane," Dell said, per ESPN. "I hope he's all right. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody."

Batherson was not all right and did not return to the game after exiting in the first period. ESPN noted he "struggled to put weight on his left leg and needed assistance down the tunnel."

Senators head coach D.J. Smith was not happy with the play.

"It's a bad play by the goalie," he said. "He's done it before, we've seen all the replays. Any other player in the game that does that, you'd have to go out there and face the music I guess. Certainly, the league will look at whatever, but it's a bad play ... and it's an unfortunate thing that a young kid's not going to be able to go to an All-Star game. It's dangerous."

Batherson scored his 13th goal of the season during the game before he suffered the ankle injury. He now has 34 points in 31 games and is playing the best hockey of his career this season.

That momentum for the 23-year-old winger will come to a temporary halt until he is able to return to the ice.

As for Dell, he is an ugly 1-8-1 on the season and is giving up 4.03 goals against per game with a save percentage of .893. He also struggled last season for the New Jersey Devils with a 1-5-0 record, 4.14 goals-against mark and .857 save percentage.

The veteran was a member of the San Jose Sharks before joining the Devils.

Both teams have struggled this season with Ottawa checking in at 13-20-3 and Buffalo sporting a 13-22-7 record.          

After getting traded to the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week, Jack Eichel tweeted a video Saturday in which he thanked the Buffalo Sabres and their fans.

The video featured Eichel's first NHL goal in 2015 and many of his top highlights during his time with the Sabres:

Thank you Buffalo pic.twitter.com/Aisext2Fqi

— Jack Eichel (@jackeichel) November 6, 2021

He concluded by saying: "I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the fans and everyone that supported me in this incredible city."

After Eichel had a disagreement with the Sabres organization regarding what type of neck surgery to receive and requested a trade, Buffalo finally parted ways with him Thursday.

The Sabres sent Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick to the Golden Knights for forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2022 and a second-round pick in 2023.

Eichel, 25, was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft behind Connor McDavid. He spent most of his six seasons with the Sabres as the captain and enjoyed some highly productive campaigns.

The Massachusetts native finished his time in Buffalo with 139 goals and 216 assists for 355 points in 375 regular-season games, and he was a three-time All-Star selection.

After undergoing surgery and recovering, Eichel will attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career as a member of the Golden Knights.

Now that his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres has come to an end, Jack Eichel has opened up about what went wrong when he was with the organization. 

Speaking to Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada, Eichel said the front office changes after the 2019-20 season and the team's struggles last season were major contributing factors to his wanting out:

"We weren't really in a position of... you know, that we were going to try and go win."

After being traded to the @GoldenKnights, @jackeichel spoke to @FriedgeHNIC about where he personally thought things went wrong with the Buffalo Sabres. pic.twitter.com/akwoO2hDFL

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 4, 2021

The Sabres announced on Thursday that they sent Eichel and a 2023 third-round draft pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 protected first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick. 

The Sabres fired general manager Jason Botterill on June 16, 2020. They had zero playoff appearances during his three seasons running the front office. 

Kevyn Adams, who took over for Botterill, told WGR 550 in Buffalo (h/t NHL.com) in September 2020 that he wasn't going to trade Eichel. 

"I think it is something that I want to make very clear, we have no intentions and we're not shopping Jack or talking to teams looking to do anything with Jack," Adams said. "People call and ask questions and you have conversations."

That came after TSN's Bob McKenzie reported the Sabres did take some calls from other teams about Eichel's availability, but the 25-year-old wasn't interested in moving on at that time.

Things seemed to take a turn last season, as the Sabres posted the league's worst record (15-34-7). They fired head coach Ralph Krueger on March 17 after 12 consecutive losses. The losing streak reached 18 games before a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31. 

Eichel played in only 21 games last season because of a spinal disc herniation that required surgery. He and the Sabres had differing opinions on the type of procedure that would best treat the issue. 

His personal doctor, Chad J. Prusmack, said on the 31 Thoughts podcast (h/t Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News) in July that Eichel wanted an artificial disc replacement. The Sabres preferred the more common anterior cervical discectomy with fusion operation.

Harrington noted the artificial disc replacement procedure has never been done on an NHL player, despite being around since 2000. 

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told reporters Thursday that Eichel will be permitted to have the surgery he wants. 

Eichel was expected to be the face of the franchise and lead the Sabres back to prominence after they selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL draft. He led the team in points in four straight seasons from 2016-19. 

However, the Sabres never finished higher than sixth in their division in any of Eichel's six seasons with the organization.