Jeff Skinner and Conor Sheary are expected to bolster the Buffalo offense.
By Brian Duff / Sabres.com
“We want to turn these guys loose.”
It almost doesn’t matter who said this.
After seven non-playoff seasons, all of them with the Sabres in the bottom third of the conference (if not the league) offensively, this fan base is starving for goals.
And if one of those goals is in fact – as associate coach Davis Payne suggested – “to turn these guys loose” then let’s get this season started today!
The reason Payne can even bring himself to utter those words is because of the work done by general manager Jason Botterill.
“We’ve got a ton of options, we’ve got a ton of figuring out who goes with who and what role are they going to play” Payne said. “Guys are going to have added responsibility they’re going to get excited about. Guys are going to be new and playing with new linemates, a real fresh atmosphere that if I’m coming in trying to figure my way through it I’m excited because you’re playing with good players and you’re going to have opportunities to play production roles and that’s all you can ask for.”
The Sabres’ two biggest additions of course are now the locker-room leaders in even-strength goals the past two seasons. Jeff Skinner tops the list with 50. Conor Sheary is next at 37, one better than Buffalo incumbent Jack Eichel.
Assistant coach Steve Smith is among the offseason additions as well, and having come from Carolina, he can attest to how Skinner will change the Sabres for the better.
“My understanding of this team is that there’s an awful lot of guys that are guys that don’t want to shoot the puck, don’t want to get the puck to the net.” (Fact: only the NJ Devils have averaged fewer shots per game than the Sabres’ 28.4 the past seven seasons.)
“[Jeff is] a guy that’s a shoot first mentality, goes hard to the net hard.” (Fact: since entering the NHL in 2010-11, Skinner ranks 9th in shots on goal with 1909.)
“Jeff’s a real good pro. Jeff, first and foremost, is a guy that comes to the rink early, he works out hard, he’s one of the first on the ice, you’ll see him every day out there early, he’s one of the last off the ice, he’s a rink rat,” Smith said. “He loves the game. He’s very very quiet. He just does all the right things. You know he carries his own food on the road, takes his own water on the road, he’s really into body preservation. As a hockey player, he sets himself up for success by doing that.”
Skinner and Sheary are just two in a long list of personnel changes at every position for the Sabres this season. And Payne knows where it all has to start if they are going to collectively find success.
“Well I think we’re going to be better at keeping it out of our net, and I think that that is going to lend itself to the puck being on our stick a lot more,” he said. “More mobility, better skaters, better puck-movers, better skill … if you will throughout, not just your backend but throughout your lineup.
“I think we’ve got guys that are gonna be committed to getting the puck back and that’s going to just – in terms of opportunities, numbers of opportunities – allow you to generate a little bit more at the offensive net. If you try to put that equation backwards you get yourself in lots of trouble.”
When camp begins it might honestly be hard to know where to look with change, and competition at every turn.
Yes, Rasmus Dahlin will be must-see on the blueline. But don’t overlook the returnees.
Jake McCabe offered this enthusiastic outlook via text message: “I definitely think the team will be better 5v5 … Our defensive core will be a big part of it. We need to step up this year and contribute with secondary scoring and I have no doubt we will. Can’t wait to get things going!”
And that certainly falls in line with what head coach Phil Housley has said from the outset of his tenure in Buffalo, and what Payne was thinking aloud about this week.
“Our message all along has been backend out and we’re adding some real good pieces, we’re bringing some guys back in our lineup that missed significant time last year,” Payne said. “I think that’s just going to allow us to get the puck quicker, transition quicker, and play the fast game that we want to play.”