If the Buffalo Sabres want to be playing this time next year – as in, if this team wishes to qualify for the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs – the front office needs to pull a Super Mario Bros and give its defensive corps a major power up.
Why? For starters, Buffalo’s defensive unit can’t score worth a ****. Rasmus Ristolainen ranks 24th among all NHL defensemen, but after Risto, scoring from the blueline drops off the face of planet Earth. Buffalo’s next two most offensive blueliners rank 66th (Zach Bogosian) and 100th (Cody Franson) in the NHL, with three more players falling within the 126-150 range (Jake McCabe, Josh Gorges and Mark Pysyk).