Not an official logo of the team, this was a logo used on the 1968 and 1969 set of Topps football cards of Buffalo Bills’ players. Being that the NFL and AFL had agreed to a merger by then, the set included cards of players from both leagues. The Bills fell on hard times at this point after being a top club in earlier AFL years, and the fact that all other teams had their regular logos used on their cards was just another sign of disrespect Buffalo’s team had to endure.
2003 Bowman football card of former college and pro quarterback Ken Dorsey, who played 6 years in the NFL with San Francisco and Cleveland. Despite a stellar college career at Miami that saw him break school passing records and win a national championship in 2001, he spent his entire pro career as a backup. Dorsey’s post-playing days have evolved into a successful 9 year coaching career in Carolina and Buffalo. He is currently the Bills’ offensive coordinator.
The work of improving the Buffalo Sabres’ fortunes in the 2022 off-season really began during the season for general manager Kevyn Adams. He was patient and eventually completed the blockbuster trade involving the team’s former captain, Jack Eichel. The disgruntled center was shipped to the Vegas Golden Knights for a couple of NHL-ready players – Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, and a pair of high draft picks. Last off-season, Adams had the Seattle expansion draft to deal with, and the team was lucky enough to win the draft lottery and made the most of the top pick by selecting big defenseman Owen Power, who will be a cornerstone going forward. Don Granato is now firmly entrenched as the head coach, so this year’s summary has only 3 categories – potential trades, the entry draft and free agency. Here are our opinions on how Adams did or should handle those:
Most observers expect any trade involving Buffalo will be for their biggest position of need, goaltender. The goalie trade merry-go-round is already in full swing, with Colorado and Detroit swinging deals. Adams tried to swap for Ottawa’s Matt Murray, but he refused to play here and is now off to Toronto. The Sabres seem to have been a step behind other clubs in the goalie market, and may have to look to free agency to fill that need now. There was a rumor, put out in the media by coach Don Granato’s brother-in-law Ray Ferraro, that the Sabres could be considering trading for Chicago’s Patrick Kane, a Buffalo native. At 33, he’s not exactly a good fit for the team’s rebuilding youth movement, but on the other hand he would be a valuable asset for however many years he has left in a couple of different ways. First, in helping the young players learn how to win, and secondly, in helping sell tickets to a fan base exhausted by all the recent losing.
The Sabres collected 3 first round picks with their own and through the trades of Eichel and Sam Reinhart. They chose skilled centermen with all 3, beginning with Matthew Savoie at pick 9. His strengths are his speed, skating ability, and stick-handling. He was projected as a possible top 5 pick so Buffalo was smart to grab him at 9. With the 16th pick, Swedish centerman Noah Ostlund was the choice. His scouting report is similar to Savoie’s in that it stresses his speed and skill. Finally, Buffalo chose Czech Republic center Jiri Kulich, also known for his speed but one of his strengths is his goal scoring ability. The Sabres pulled a mild surprise when they used their second round pick on a goaltender, the enormous Topias Leinonen from Finland. He’s 6’5 and 233 lbs. Despite his size, his scouting report says he is athletic and quick. One other pick with interesting hockey bloodlines is 4th round defenseman Mats Lindgren Jr., whose father had a long NHL career. With 22 selections in the last 2 drafts, Adams has fortified Buffalo’s pipeline of young prospects heading into the future. Here are the rest of the 2022 picks:
Victor Neuchev (winger from Russia, 3rd round)
Vsevolod Komarov (Russian defenseman who played for Quebec in junior hockey, 5th round)
Jake Richard (forward who played for USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, pick 6A)
Gustav Karlsson (forward from Sweden, pick 6B)
Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson (forward from Sweden, pick 7A)
Linus Sjodin (forward from Sweden, pick 7B)
There were no big splashes for the Sabres in the early days of free agency. As expected, the team inked a goaltender, Eric Comrie, formerly of the Winnipeg Jets. He’s 27 and has been with 3 different teams, mainly with the Jets. Adams is banking on potential with this signing, as he showed some flashes in 2021 while backing up Connor Hellebuyck. Buffalo also brought in a veteran defenseman from Toronto who plays a somewhat physical style in Ilya Lyubushkin. Buffalo signed 3 more little-known defensemen to two-way contracts (Jeremy Davies, Cale Clague and Chase Priskie) to bolster their defensive depth in the organization. Lawrence Pilut, once a promising prospect who bolted to Europe a couple years ago, was re-signed, along with some important pieces of the current team in Victor Olofsson and Vinnie Hinostroza. With Dustin Tokarski signing in Pittsburgh, Adams re-signed goaltender Malcolm Subban, likely with the idea that he will man the nets in Rochester.
Logo of a Canadian minor hockey team of the past, the Moose Jaw Canucks. They were founding members of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League, beginning play in 1966. The franchise disbanded when the Winnipeg Warriors moved to Moose Jaw in 1984. Notable former Moose Jaw alumni include Larry Popein, Al Rollins, Willie DesJardins, Fred Sasakamoose and Chris Chelios.
1999 Opeechee hockey card of former NHL center Mats Lindgren, who played 9 injury-plagued seasons in the league for 3 franchises. Despite being a high draft choice due to his offensive skills, he never lived up to his potential, with his highest single season goal total being only 13 while playing for Edmonton. He represented Sweden in the 1998 Winter Olympics. His son Mats Jr. was recently drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo has always been an important franchise in the NHL, despite their recent long string of losing seasons. With the club finally showing signs that they might be ready to be a competitive team next season, we here at Rayonsports have decided to do a year end review of the team for the first time since the 2015-2016 season.
It’s been musical chairs in both the general manager and head coaching positions with the Sabres during their long non-playoff drought, but it’s possible that owners Terry and Kim Pegula have finally hit on a winning combination with GM Kevyn Adams and coach Don Granato. Adams was patient in dealing with Jack Eichel’s situation and did a great job of prying the best deal possible from the Vegas Golden Knights when he landed Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and a pair of draft picks for his disgruntled star. The jury is still out on the draft picks he has made but it was a no-brainer in grabbing Owen Power at the top of last year’s draft. As for coaching, there’s no denying the work Granato and his staff have done in both developing young players into the best versions of themselves (Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin), and in turning around the careers of supposedly overpaid veterans who previously underachieved (Jeff Skinner, Kyle Okposo). The next challenge will be turning the progress made into an actual winning season in 2022-23.
The Sabres made the transition from a forward group led by offense-only Eichel and Sam Reinhart to a more well-rounded and versatile unit this season. Thompson’s emergence and the addition of Tuch were 2 examples of this. Both were key power play pieces and also top contributors on the penalty kill. Skinner’s revival into a 30+ goal scorer and Okposo banking 20+ while also being a locker room leader were priceless. Okposo is a prime candidate to take on the captain’s role next season. Granato was patient with Victor Olofsson and was rewarded when the young winger produced after being fully recovered from an injury to also score 20+. Casey Mittlestadt has suffered setbacks in his development due to injuries but when healthy he looks to be an important player going into the future. Dylan Cozens continued to develop and although he still has the potential for more growth in his game, he is a solid teammate who can be counted on to stick up for his fellow Sabre players. Krebs is still raw but he shows flashes of possessing some impressive skills and looks to be a major part of the team’s future. Zemgus Girgensens is another veteran role player who figures to stick around and provide important minutes on a third or fourth line. Vinny Hinostroza was signed to a one year free agent contract, and his play earned him a future here. Adams should make him a priority to re-sign. John Hayden was signed to a similar deal to add some toughness to the lineup. He was scratched from the lineup most nights but always ready when called upon. The rest of the forward group could see some shuffling next season. Rasmus Asplund and to a lesser degree Anders Bjork have shown they can be contributors, but it will likely be the end of the line for veterans like Cody Eakin and Drake Caggiula, a forgotten piece who was injured most of the year. All of the bottom-end forwards will be challenged for roster spots by the young bucks coming up from the AHL, including Jack Quinn, J.J. Peterka, Arttu Ruotsalainen and Brett Murray, among others. There are also top players in the pipeline, most of whom will need to mature and develop in the junior ranks, college and minors.
This unit going forward will be led by a pair of top draft picks of recent years, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Their games are not necessarily the same but they already appear to be headed toward being the best at their position. Dahlin has developed nicely under Granato’s tutelage, earning his first All Star game appearance, while Power jumped straight from the college ranks into the lineup and never looked out of place or intimidated. When the season concluded, the remaining top 4 defensemen were a combination of speed and puck-handling ability in Jacob Bryson and Henri Jokiharju, and size and toughness in Casey Fitzgerald and Mattias Samuelsson. The rest of the D corps consists of veteran journeymen Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk and Will Butcher. It’s unlikely all of them will be back in 2022/23. The only AHL prospect who might make the leap to the Sabres’ roster next season is Oskari Laaksonen. Ryan Johnson, a first round draft pick from a couple of years ago, is returning to college for another season.
This is the team’s top area of concern going into next season. They will have to make a move here if they expect to compete for a playoff spot. Craig Anderson was a warrior as the top netminder this year, but he is 40, injury-prone and an unrestricted free agent who isn’t sure whether or not he wants to continue to play. Dustin Tokarski did about as well as expected when he had to play, but he is an AHL goalie if truth be told. There has to be an upgrade made here. In the system, the other options are Malcolm Subban, another AHL-level goalie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was to be the goalie-in-waiting but can’t stay healthy and Michael Houser, who played in the ECHL with Cincinnati this year and probably belongs there. A pair of top-fight prospects who should eventually compete for the #1 goaltender spot for the franchise, Devon Levi and Erik Portillo, both decided to remain in school for another year, and aren’t ready for the NHL yet anyway. Whether Anderson returns or not, there is a crying need for a legitimate NHL-caliber bridge type netminder to hold the fort until Levi and Portillo are ready.
This is the iconic logo of an original six National Hockey League team, the Chicago Blackhawks. Founded in 1926, the franchise has won a total of 6 Stanley Cup championships over the years, with half of those coming in a 5 year span from 2010 to 2015. The Hawks boast an amazing 51 Hall of Fame inductees, including such luminaries as Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall, Chris Chelios, Denis Savard and Marion Hossa.
1979 Topps hockey card depicting the top 3 goal scorers of the ’78/79 season. They are all Hall of Famers and include Marcel “Little Beaver” Dionne and 2 former superstars who recently passed away, Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur. Those 2 were key elements in their respective franchises’ dynasty years. Bossy had 5 consecutive 50 goal seasons during his New York Islanders run of 4 straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, and twice had the Cup-winning goal for his team. He also won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, was a three-time Lady Byng Trophy winner and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in the Islanders’ 1982 Cup run. Lafleur had 6 consecutive seasons of 50 goals and 100 points while helping his Montreal Canadiens to 5 Cup titles in the 1970s. He also won the Conn Smythe, in 1977 and was a two-time Hart Trophy recipient as NHL MVP.
Buffalo General Manager Brandon Beane continued his quest to build a Super Bowl-winning roster in Las Vegas over the weekend at the NFL’s annual college player draft. The Bills are in a position where they have a championship caliber roster and other than maybe cornerback, just needed to find a few pieces for depth and to help them get over the hump. Here’s an analysis of the choices they made:
Round 1 – Kaiir Elam (CB, Florida) – good cover corner with versatility and NFL bloodlines as both his father and uncle played in the league. Cornerback is the top position of need for the Bills, and Elam will have a great opportunity to win a starting job in his rookie year, replacing the departed Levi Wallace.
Round 2 – James Cook (RB, Georgia) – some scouts compared him to the Saints’ Alvin Kamara due to his ability to both run and catch passes out of the backfield. Another player with NFL bloodlines as his brother is Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook. He is more of a breakaway threat than any back currently on the Bills’ roster. A definite positive addition to the running back room, and there’s a good chance he develops to the point he is RB1.
Round 3 – Terrel Bernard (LB, Baylor) – an undersized linebacker who covers the field from sideline to sideline and is a solid tackler. He may be a replacement for A.J. Klein, or could even be an eventual replacement for Tremaine Edmunds depending on how the Bills view him long term.
Round 5 – Khalil Shakir (WR, Boise State) – a great value at this spot in the draft, he has good run after the catch ability and makes highlight reel catches, although he will need to work on cutting down on dropped balls. Along with Cook, he is another weapon for Josh Allen to use in exploiting opposing defenses.
Round 6A – Matt Araiza (P, San Diego State) – the “Punt God” was considered the best punter in the draft and was surprisingly the third one chosen. He’s left-footed and has a booming leg. He can also placekick even though the Bills don’t have a need there. He should have the inside track to win the punting job over the disappointing Matt Haack.
Round 6B – Christian Benford (CB, Villanova) – a little-known prospect from a school better known for producing basketball players. The Bills have a need for depth at the position and Bernard has shown a knack for being around the ball, racking up 14 interceptions in his college career. He will have to make the transition from small school competition to the pros.
Round 6C – Luke Tenuta (OT, Virginia Tech) – The Bills apparently like extremely large offensive linemen, as he is the third 6’8 player drafted by them in the last 2 years. He can also play on the inside at guard, where the Bills can use some added depth.
Round 7 – Baylon Spector (LB, Clemson) – another undersized linebacker with a high motor. Buffalo seems to be seeing the need for lighter, faster backers who can cover as opposed to bigger hard-hitting tacklers who specialize in stopping the run. A practice squad candidate if nothing else.
Hardly a “classic” logo, this is the official logo of the newly re-branded Washington Commanders, a team that plays in the National Football League and was formerly known as the Redskins and the unimaginative “Football Team”. The franchise played in Boston in the early NFL years, then moved to Washington in 1937, winning the league championship that year. They also were champs in 1942 and have won 3 Super Bowls in 5 appearances in the title game. There are 32 former Washington players, coaches and management people in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 20 of which had most of their accomplishments playing in the nation’s capital.