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Poll: Will the Sabres snap their playoff drought?

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during the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 18, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona.

Christian Petersen

This post is part of Sabres Day on PHT...

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t been to the postseason in quite some time. In fact, the last time they played playoff hockey was in 2011 when they were eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Since then, the Sabres have undergone a massive rebuild that has tested their fans’ patience.

As bad as they’ve been for most of this decade, there seems to be a little more optimism surrounding this group of players.

It all starts with landing Jack Eichel in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Sure, they may have wanted Connor McDavid instead, but Eichel has proven to be an effective NHLer already.

They’ve surrounded him with some good forwards like Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart. Those players might not be perfect, but they’re capable of being part of the supporting cast.

As good as each of those players can be, they’ll need to be better than they were last year. Okposo’s first year in Buffalo didn’t go as planned. It took him time to get used to his new surroundings and he’s also dealt with some injury scares.

Evander Kane is playing for a new contract, so he’ll need to be a little more motivated than he’s been in the last few seasons. Kane has all the physical tools to be a dominant power forward, but like a lot of his teammates, consistency has been the biggest problem.

They’ve been pretty thin on the blue line over the last few seasons, but Buffalo has a quality defenseman in Rasmus Ristolainen. New general manager Jason Botterill made it a point to surround his young rearguard with more talent, as he acquired Marco Scandella from Minnesota and Nathan Beaulieu from Montreal during the offseason. Youngster Jake McCabe will also be back in 2017-18. Veterans Josh Gorges and Zach Bogosian are also back in the fold.

But the biggest addition to the team’s defense wasn’t a player, it was a coach. After they let go of Dan Bylsma, the Sabres decided to hire Predators assistant Phil Housley, who has worked with many great defensemen during his coaching career. If he can help bring this young group to the next level, it would go a long way in helping the team get back to the playoffs.

Goaltending has also been a huge question mark for the Sabres. They paid a first round pick to get Robin Lehner from the Ottawa Senators a few years ago, and that trade hasn’t worked out. Buffalo clearly believes that too, as they were only willing to give Lehner a one-year contract this summer.

Chad Johnson, who is back in Buffalo after a stint in Calgary, will be competing for starts with Lehner. Neither goaltender is a proven starter at the NHL level, but one of them will have to figure out how to find a certain level of consistency.

Alright it’s time to vote. The Sabres have made changes to the roster, front office and coaching staff, but is it enough to get them out of this rut? On top of voting, feel free to leave your opinion in the comments section below.

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