We did our annual simulation of the 2018-19 using EA’s newest game. We plugged in the Sabres official roster and skipped ahead through June.
The results weren’t very promising, especially since some believe Buffalo can crack the playoffs, but there were some interesting results. Let’s get to it.
Regular season
The Sabres had a great 1st half of the season, but had a horrific March that had them fall short of the playoffs. They finished with a 35-34-13 record and only managed to score 182 goals. Here’s how the Atlantic Division played out.
Scoring leaders
Jack Eichel finished with a team-high of 58 points, but those numbers are definitely underwhelming. Jason Pominville had the most goals with 24.
Goalies
Hutton and Ullmark split time pretty well and had very similar numbers. This seems to be what kept Buffalo in the hunt, but scoring was the problem.
Rookies
Casey Mittelstadt’s 51 points were not too bad at all for his rookie season. Rasmus Dahlin only put up 16, though!?
NHL scoring leaders
Playoffs
Even though Buffalo didn’t make the playoffs, we kept simulating and found some shocking matchups:
A rematch of the Stanley Cup Final and a Washington Capitals win in Game 7! They also defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils in seven games each.