Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Buffalo Sabres

For the last 18 years (12 with The Hockey News)Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 19th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Linus Ullmark, Michael Houser, Jake McCabe, Matt Irwin, Carter Hutton, Jean-Seabastian Dea, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, William Borgen, Tobias Rieder, Riley Sheahan

Incoming – John Hayden, Will Butcher, Aaron Dell, Jimmy Schuldt, Mark Pysyk, Vinne Hinostroza, Devon Levi, Robert Hagg

Impact of changes – We're still waiting on a Jack Eichel sized shoe to drop, but even before that, the roster looks barren. The changes saw almost everyone one value shipped out: Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart… and yeah that's the list. A bunch of fringe NHLers were signed to fill the holes. This team is going to be worse than last year's team that went on a historic 18-game losing streak, and it might not even be close. Last year's team put up 2.4 goals per game, which was good for third-last in the league. It would be surprising if they weren't last this time around, and closer to two goals per game than 2.4.

Ready for Full Time – Arttu Ruotsalainen has some higher risk/reward potential than a lot of others in the Sabres' system. He is a small but gritty winger that should bring a good shot volume to a Sabres' forward core that doesn't have many shooters outside of Viktor Olofsson. Ruotsalainen got into 17 games last year, putting up 6 points. He should be able to provide a solid number of Hits and PIMs as well, but as with everyone on Buffalo, beware the plus-minus, as his was already minus-9 in his 17-game stint last year.

Rasmus Asplund (yes, another Rasmus) has had stints with the team each of the last two years, but hasn't been able to stick with a consistent role or worthwhile minutes. He was the player the Sabres asked Jeff Skinner to waive his no-move clause so that they could protect him in the expansion draft, so we know that he factors into their future plans. He's a skilled forward, and with the exodus of talent this offseason, there may even be room on the top power play for him in the fall.

Fantasy Outlook:

This team is going to be bad. The top line could reasonably be Jeff Skinner, Dylan Cozens, and Victor Olofsson. That is not good, unless somehow Skinner regains his top-line form again, and it's a coming out party for the other two while they get fed offensive zone starts and 21 minutes a night. Don't count on it though, because this team will be too busy chasing the puck around their own zone and fishing it out of their net.

If you do want to take a swing on some upside players getting more opportunity, Casey Mittelstadt could be a good post-hype guy to kick tires on, as he managed well despite not being sheltered last season. Hinostroza may end up on a line with Mittelstadt too, and we have seen him go off in short spurts before when given the chance.

On defence, Rasmus Dahlin is just about the only bright spot. If he can take a step forward, he may be fantasy relevant this season, after racking up more than three minuses for every two points he scored last year. Newcomers Robert Hagg, Will Butcher, and Mark Pysyk may make things even more dire in front of the Buffalo goalies this year, and won't have much value behind Dahlin.

In net, Buffalo is running with Aaron Dell and Craig Anderson, which means they might have just been better off seeing if David Ayers was willing to drive a few hours down the QEW and help them out. It was mentioned above that this team's goals for mark may not hit 2.4, well after allowing 3.5 per game last season, we may even see them push for an average of four per game this time around. Just imagine the plus-minus stats we could get with a team that allows two goals for every one that they score. Things are going to get ugly.

Grade – D assuming Eichel gets dealt. If this is the one timeline where he plays more games for the Sabres, then the grade can be bumped up to a generous C- (last year was B+)