THE SKY ISN’T FALLING

BY: KYLE SILAGYI

Going into the 2016-17 season, many fans believed that this was the year the Sabres would get back to the playoffs.  Unfortunately, less than one week into the new campaign, the team has lost a couple key players.

Players that many predicted to make up the Sabres’ top six are currently out with injuries as Jack Eichel and Evander Kane are both likely to miss more than a month with injuries.

We’re six games into the season and the team has yet to show that they can get by without those two players, but it’s just a small sample size.

With the injury bug biting Buffalo early, the question has to be asked – is this season over before it really begins? No. No it’s not.

Thinking that the Sabres are out of the playoff picture after just a couple of games is ludicrous. Even without Eichel or Kane the next month or two, the Sabres are still stacked with talented veterans and youth such as Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart and Tyler Ennis.

The depth of this team isn’t something that is often looked at as one of its strengths, but the impressive number of quality players on the Sabres roster could really be highlighted in the first half of the season.

Even an injury-depleted Buffalo roster is capable of competing night in and night out, and should easily be able to go .500 without two of their best players.

Another thing that fans have to remember is that these players will return. Kane and Eichel aren’t going to be out for the entire season. They’ll likely be back before January. Once these players return, the Sabres will once again have one of the strongest lineups in the Atlantic Division, and could easily climb their way up the standings.

Although Robin Lehner had a sub-par season debut with the Sabres, the 6’5″ Swede still has the potential to be a solid starting goaltender in the NHL. The 25-year-old has only played 21 games in a Sabres’ uniform, but has shown that he has the ability to be a No. 1 goaltender.

Although it’s been a brutal start to the year, the team still has the potential to achieve great things this season.

It is six games out of 82. That’s not even a tenth of the season. This team could still make the playoffs.

Fans should stop dwelling on the past and get excited for the future.