With just over a quarter of the season done, let’s look at the Sabres.
With just over a quarter of the NHL season complete, the Buffalo Sabres have seen their fair share of ups and downs, ebbs and flows. We can certainly talk about the team as a whole and judge its performance, but today, I’d like to take a look at each player and grade them on their performance thus far. Taking into consideration a little bit of everything – offensive production, defensive structure, ice time, etc. – this is where I’m at right now.
Here’s the grading scale I’m using:
- A – exceeds expectations
- B – meets expectations
- C – partially meets expectations
- D – does not meet expectations
- F – definitely fails expectations
Note: only players who have skated in at least half of the team’s games so far are included here. It’s simply very challenging to judge players who haven’t really played much – so guys like Tyson Jost and Mattias Samuelsson, along with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, aren’t listed.
A – Exceeds Expectations
- Craig Anderson (G) – 9 games played, 8 games started, 4-4, .917 sv%, 2.76 GAA
- Tage Thompson (F) – 21 games played, 26 points (13-13)
- Rasmus Dahin (D) – 20 games played, 23 points (8-15)
B – Meets Expectations
- Alex Tuch (F) – 21 games played, 21 points (10-11)
- Jeff Skinner (F) – 21 games played, 21 points (9-12)
- Dylan Cozens (F) – 21 games played, 15 points (5-10)
- JJ Peterka (F) – 21 games played, 10 points (4-6)
- Jack Quinn (F) – 16 games played, 9 points (3-6)
- Owen Power (D) – 21 games played, 9 points (0-9)
C – Partially Meets Expectations (But I’d Like to See More From Them)
- Eric Comrie (G) – 11 games played, 11 games started, 4-7, .887 sv%, 3.62 GAA
- Victor Olofsson (F) – 21 games played, 13 points (11-2)
- Casey Mittelstadt (F) – 21 games played, 13 points (5-8)
- Kyle Okposo (F) – 15 games played, 9 points (1-8)
- Vinnie Hinostroza (F) – 14 games played, 8 points (0-8)
- Rasmus Asplund (F) – 17 games played, 6 points (2-4)
- Lawrence Pilut (D) – 11 games played, 1 point (0-1)
D – Does Not Meet Expectations
- Jacob Bryson (D) – 20 games played, 6 points (1-5)
- Zemgus Girgensons (F) – 20 games played, 5 points (3-2)
- Peyton Krebs (F) – 17 games played, 3 points (0-3)
- Ilya Lyubushkin (D) – 16 games played, 0 points (0-1)
F – Definitely Fails Expectations
- Casey Fitzgerald (D) – 13 games played, 1 point (0-1)