Which team has a brighter future, Seattle or Buffalo?

[JoVel]

I'm voting Seattle.

Click to read more...

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Has to be Seattle. Look what the crazy expansion rules did for Vegas

 

[Peat]

Well if this thread isn't kicking a guy when they're down, don't know what is...

And yes, Seattle.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Expansion rules have been favorable lately. I'll bet Seattle is better than a bunch of teams.

 

[amnesiac]

Ill say Buffalo considering they will be landing top picks in the next few years, and possibly one of Shane Wright (2022) and/or Connor Bedard (2023).

Hell, they may just need a coaching change.

Seattle's just a big question mark.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Buffalo, we know nothing about Seattle's roster

Vegas had a fantastic expansion draft, but there is no quarantee Seattle will do as well

 

[libertarian]

Easily Seattle.

Seattle may be a PO team in its first year.

Buffalo is still a tire fire.

 

[explore]

Seattle until the Pegulas show they can make some common sense decisions regarding the team: like hiring a competent NHL head coach, acquiring a #1/#1b goalie, not trading core pieces like Eichel & Reinhart, etc.

 

[Adamantoise]

The average player is so much closer to the superstars today that with expansion rules you can actually make a very good team.

 

[Fatass]

How long is the Skinner contract for? Seattle until that’s done.

 

[Taluss]

Somewhat surprised the poll is this lopsided. I’m going Sabres if their management plays it right.

They could be building off of Eichel, Cozens, Dahlin + high picks this year and next most likely (sorry Sabres fans if I’m missing solid prospects I don’t follow them) or A+ prospect, A prospect, 1st (From Eichel trade) Cozens, Dahlin, + high picks this and next year. That’s not bad to build around.

Now given I am saying this knowing nothing about their player development or how Cozens or Dahlin looks currently.

 

[jetsforever]

People here are being crazy - Vegas lucked out with some chemistry and managed to keep the momentum going
Buffalo has Eichel/Dahlin, plus some other decent pieces, while Seattle will have a bunch of middling castaways.

 

[ricky0034]

People here are being crazy - Vegas lucked out with some chemistry and managed to keep the momentum going
Buffalo has Eichel/Dahlin, plus some other decent pieces, while Seattle will have a bunch of middling castaways.

yeah Vegas masterfully executed that whole only talking to them thing too that lead to a bunch of awful trades that teams won't be looking for a repeat of

threads like this are gonna look pretty dumb when the expansion draft actually happens and people realize picking through players other teams don't want isn't actually a free pass to being a contender

 

[bobholly39]

Vegas was lucky imo.

You redo that 20x and 18x the team sucks. Also - majority expected Vegas to suck even after draft. I think people are out to lunch if they just assume Seattle does the same. It's possible but highly improbable.

I still really like Buffalo's core of Eichel/Dahlin. Sure this season is a writeoff, but it shouldn't be this hard to come back next year with something better

 

[Gurglesons]

Seattle has a fresh start. Easily them.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I have a feeling Seattle is going to stink

 

[leafsfan5]

Somewhat surprised the poll is this lopsided. I’m going Sabres if their management plays it right.

They could be building off of Eichel, Cozens, Dahlin + high picks this year and next most likely (sorry Sabres fans if I’m missing solid prospects I don’t follow them) or A+ prospect, A prospect, 1st (From Eichel trade) Cozens, Dahlin, + high picks this and next year. That’s not bad to build around.

Now given I am saying this knowing nothing about their player development or how Cozens or Dahlin looks currently.

That's your problem right there

 

[Volica]

Anyone else think Seattle will be really bad, unless GMs learned from their mistakes? Without gifting Vegas their top line and top pairing, Vegas would have been a much worse team.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I’m gonna go against the grain here and say Sabres. They’ve still got an Elite 1 C and perhaps the highest potential D man in the league. Cap issues aside I do think Buffalo is gonna turn it around eventually.

Teams will have learned a great deal from the Vegas expansion and I just don’t see Seattle replicating anything near that success.

 

[Peat]

Seattle don't have to be Vegas good to have a brighter future than Buffalo. If they come out of the gate underbaked, then they are in a position to start accumulating high picks in a pair of drafts people are salivating over, and can start stockpiling them/using their cap space to create a great future team. In this scenario, they're the same rebuilding teams, a bit dependent on the luck of the lottery, and with Buffalo having some building blocks in place but with Seattle able to weaponise cap space a lot better. Which is a kinda even scenario, maybe tilted a bit Buffalo.

The big difference that makes me give it to Seattle though is so far Buffalo are run by people who are seemingly morons in this field, who hire other seemingly incompetent people, while it looks like Seattle aren't. Buffalo's future should be bright, but if they keep on handling it like they have so far, it will be anything but.

 

[lawrence]

There is no way Seattle makes the finals right off the bat. My gosh. Buffalo already has a start with Eichel Dhalin. Even if Seattle wins the 1st pick in 2021 there is no Eichel level player or a franchise alternating player.

 

[mouz135]

Lmao. Rubbing salt in the wounds. I’m sorry Buffalo fans

 

[ThatsSoSlavin]

Seattle doesn’t have any bad contracts right now so them

 

[Just Linda]

Seattle.

Covid is a perfect world for them to enter the league. A lot of good players are going to be exposed for cap reasons this year. They're gonna have a lot of offers for players that wouldn't be available in a regular year. Add to that a solid UFA class (Barrie, Hall, Nuge, Hamilton, Danault, Tatar, Hoffman come to mind immediately), there'll get all the pieces they need to at least be competitive.

 

[Mr Positive]

I think Vegas lucked out a bit in terms of key players. The issue they were going to have was a lack of top end players in key positions. They managed to find Theodore and Karlsson just like that, and those players ascending so fast helped to turn them into a magnet for free agents.

So I'm not sure that Seattle will be as lucky.

Also, I think Buffalo is better than how horrible they seem now. They have some amazing young talent in key positions. When Dahlin matures a bit, that will make things click. They had a good offseason last fall, but it didn't pan out. If they keep trying at it, they will put it together within a few seasons.