How good is Buffalo's offense this year?

[Eric Robson]

I was on Daily Faceoff early this morning when I came across something. With all the trades this year that Buffalo has manged, their offense is ... pretty freaking good. I would change the lines around a little.
Id have:
Skinner Eichel Okposo
Sheary Mittelstadt Reinhart
Nylander Berglund Pominville
Sobotka Thompson Smith

There is alot of young pieces like Casey, Alex and Tage but all have great upside. Could Buffalo have a top 10 offense this year around?

Click to read more...

 

[Bonzo111]

No idea. Lets discuss after 20-30 games

 

[780il]

They could, but thats a lot of question marks. Is Mitts gonna go ballistic this year or put up 30-40 or so points? Will Reinhart finally breakout? Will Nylander actually establish himself as an NHLer? Can Skinner bounce back to 37 goals? Can Eichel stay healthy for 82 games and go ppg or over? Idk man, could happen but thats a lot of question marks. But yes, best case scenario they could have a very deadly offense.

 

[MackAttack26]

No. Better but still lower tier.

Okposo and Pominville on RW are quickly fading/faded. Mittelstadt is still questionable on whether he is NHL ready...nevermind an NHL 2C.

We have a bright future up front no doubt. Thompson, Nylander and Asplund (as well as many other forward prospects) all look like they will be good impactful players in the future but probably not difference makers this year.

Give it another year at least until it's top half in the league I think. But there will almost definitely be some growing pains this year.

 

[Snippit]

Okposo and Pominville aren't good. Mitts hasn't looked ready early on.

Still foresee us being bottom 10 in goals.

 

[Rebels57]

Too much depends on unknown variables. There are too many teams were proven forward groups to rank Buffalo in the Top 10 right now.

 

[Bedards Dad]

No clue, but Tage Thompson has really impressed me so far.

 

[Beerz]

No. A lot of our young guys have a lot of growing pains to go thru and we still have some serious anchors for vets.

Should be better than last season tho

 

[PatrikBerglund]

No clue, but Tage Thompson has really impressed me so far.

Should 100% be on the team...which probably means he won't be.

 

[Gabrielor]

As of today, I can't even tell you who are 12 forwards are (I have a much better idea of the 6 d though). Ask again a couple weeks.

 

[93gilmour93]

Good enough to lose to Matthews and the Marlies last night

 

[Baxterman]

Its ok but not great.

They do seem to have a lot of guys that could have big swings depending on if they figure it out or not (Reinhart, Nylander, Thompson, Mittelstadt) and a few that will depend on age/health (Skinner, Okposo, Pominville).

I think they are likely middle of the pack as not all the young guys have great years and some of the vets have decent years as well.

 

[rent free]

Their bottom 6 looks great which is good news for buffalo because their depth wasn't very good last season. However it has yet to play a game together so it has yet to be determined whether it's actually br good or not.

Their top 6 isn't good which is what I expected buy they haven't played together so let's see how it plays out.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

It is very rare that a team loses their 2nd best center and their offense improves the following year.

 

[Eric Robson]

Good enough to lose to Matthews and the Marlies last night

preseason.

 

[Eric Robson]

Their bottom 6 looks great which is good news for buffalo because their depth wasn't very good last season. However it has yet to play a game together so it has yet to be determined whether it's actually br good or not.

Their top 6 isn't good which is what I expected buy they haven't played together so let's see how it plays out.

I honestly think they could pull off what the leafs did a couple years ago when Matthews Nylander and Marner where all rookies no? No one expected alot then boom they explode/.

 

[93gilmour93]

preseason.

Thanks for clearing that up

 

[rent free]

I honestly think they could pull off what the leafs did a couple years ago when Matthews Nylander and Marner where all rookies no? No one expected alot then boom they explode/.

The odds of that are unlikely. It could happen but I don't think it will.

 

[Eric Robson]

The odds of that are unlikely. It could happen but I don't think it will.

Completely agree. I think Casey will be a little over whelmed at second line center to start. I think Tage will do great if he is left on the fourth line. Nylander is the huge wild card for me. I think he really needs to prove himself this year either by ripping up the AHL or putting up a respectable amount of points in the NHL

 

[McShogun99]

I like Buffalos 1st line and bottom six. I haven’t liked the second line. I haven’t really noticed Dahlin on D which is a good thing for a rookie Dman.

 

[GlitchMarner]

I honestly think they could pull off what the leafs did a couple years ago when Matthews Nylander and Marner where all rookies no? No one expected alot then boom they explode/.

If things go well, then maybe...

Skinner has a good season
Eichel > rookie Matthews
Reinhart =/> Kadri in 2017
Okposo =/> JVR in 2017
Mittelstadt =/> rookie Marner
Nylander =/> rookie Nylander
Berglund =/> Bozak in 2017

 

[Bonzo111]

If things go well, then maybe...

Skinner has a good season
Eichel > rookie Matthews
Reinhart =/> Kadri in 2017
Okposo =/> JVR in 2017
Mittelstadt =/> rookie Marner
Nylander =/> rookie Nylander
Berglund =/> Bozak in 2017

Oof. Thats asking way too much imo

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

It could have been good, but then they traded ROR for peanuts, so that will set them back ~3 years.

 

[tony d]

Should be fun to watch. Skinner's going to be a great add for them IMO.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Better but not great. Guys like Okposo and Pominville are anchors, and 2C is a big question mark. Posted this in another thread:

Just to illustrate the improvement on offense...

2017-18

High end players:
Eichel
Reinhart
ROR
Risto

Secondary offense:
Kane
Okposo
Rodrigues
Pouliot?
Pominville?

2018-19

High end players:
Eichel
Reinhart
Dahlin
Risto

Secondary offense:
Skinner
Okposo
Mittlestadt
Sheary
Berglund
Rodrigues
Nylander?
Thompson?

Guys like Pominville, Girgensons, and Wilson go from the top 6 to fighting for jobs. No longer rostering sub-NHL players like Nolan, Pouliot, Falk, Gorges, Tennyson, and Josefsen. Many players that were playing too high in the lineup are going to be able to "slot" properly now. 2C is the big question but I think having enough players to spread out the offense will help somewhat to offset that.