Buffalo Sabres fans can finally rejoice. Their “tanking” philosophy paid off and one of the mega-prospects of last year’s NHL Draft is on their roster. Center Jack Eichel may be young, but he is already considered a game changer in the NHL and he will need to be just that if the Sabres are going to make any noise come April.

Buffalo was the worst team in the NHL last year. There is no debate on that. They struggled scoring and they could not keep pucks out of the net. The Sabres were last in goals per game (1.9), last in power play percentage (13.4), last in penalty kill percentage (75.1) and second last in goals against per game (3.3). These numbers do not lie, the Sabres were dreadful last season. This is a result of General Manager Tim Murray moving NHL-caliber players to acquire more future assets to build his team. What was left was essentially an AHL roster wearing NHL uniforms. The Sabres really did not stand a chance.

Things are different now. After Jack Eichel’s name was called, it seemed that Buffalo had flipped the switch. They had already added Forward Evander Kane and Defenseman Zach Bogosian last season and then during the draft they sent Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko to Colorado in exchange for Center Ryan O’Reilly and Forward Jamie McGinn. That move was a buyer’s move rather than a seller’s. Also, the addition of a Stanley Cup winning coach in Dan Bylsma, who has had experience coaching stars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, should help as well. The new additions will blend with young talented players like Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons, who have been in Buffalo through all the bad times. With all these moves, the Sabres have made it clear that the “tank” is over and they are ready to win.

The question remains how many games will they win? The Sabres will improve, but by how much? In a strong Atlantic Division, Buffalo will play a lot of tough games against cup contenders like the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be difficult to deal with especially if the Sabres do not develop as quickly as they should.  To make the playoffs, Evander Kane needs to be the 30-goal scorer that he was always meant to be. Jack Eichel will need to be the Calder Trophy winner, even over Connor McDavid. Also, Goalie Robin Lehner will need to be true number one goaltender. All these factors in addition to a more secure blue line and great center play from O’Reilly could get the Sabres a lower seed in the NHL playoffs. If not, they could be in for another long, sad season.

Statistics Courtesy of ESPN.com