Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Should Buffalo Dominate Showdowns Against Lowly Penguins Next Year?

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a day ago

The Buffalo Sabres know their schedule for the 2025-26 campaign, and if Buffalo hopes to end their Stanley Cup playoff drought after 14 years, they're going to need to make the most of every rivalry they have in the league. And that includes the Pittsburgh Penguins -- the team that is the latest Metropolitan Division rival for the Sabres in THN.com's Sabres site rankings of all Buffalo's Eastern Conference's rivals.
The Penguins continue the impossible balancing act of trying to stay competitive for elder stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson with the need to build and prepare for a new generation of Pens players.
As such, most pundits don't see Pittsburgh as a legitimate playoff contender next year, but that doesn't mean the Sabres still don't need to beat when they do square off next season. So let's explore the Sabres/Penguins rivalry, and see who should be the favorite to beat the other team and go further next season.
NEW PENGUINS PLAYERS: Anthony Mantha, LW; Justin Brazeau, RW; Matt Dumba, D; Connor Clifton, D; Parker Wotherspoon, D; Alexander Alexeyev, D
2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-2-0, Penguins 2-1-0
2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: December 3 at Philadelphia; December 18 at Buffalo; January 14 at Buffalo
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Penguins have shuffled around their roster to a significant degreee this summer, but the players Pens GM Kyle Dubas brought in hardly can be considered difference-makers. You've got players with faded offensive skills (Mantha), pluggers who aren't really offensive forces at all (Brazeau, Clifton, Wotherspoon) and veterans sent packing in a pure salary dump (Dumba). If that sounds enthralling to you, you may be a member of Penguins management.
Otherwise, you're probably in the majority of NHL observers who see the Pens brand continue to take a beating this coming season. Yes, even with an all-world competitor in Crosby, you can still fail to make the playoffs, as was true for the Penguins in 2024-25 when they missed out on playoff action for the third straight season. And for the seventh straight year, Pittsburgh has failed to win a playoff round. That is just abysmal. That is indefensible. But that's the reality for Pens fans.
Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Do Young Flyers Pose A Threat To Buffalo Next Year? The Buffalo Sabres desperately need to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs next season. And while the Philadelphia Flyers aren't quite as desperate as the Sabres are to do so, Philadelphia GM Daniel Briere wouldn't object at all if the Flyers surprised people and got into the post-season this coming year.
So, should the Sabres be beating this Penguins team next season? We'd say that, yes, the Sabres should be winning at least two of three games against Pittsburgh. Why? For one thing, Buffalo's goaltending picture is far superior to that of the Penguins. Dubas acquired youngster Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks this summer, but while it's possible Silovs will thrive, he's playing behind a Penguins defense corps that hardly can be considered an above-average defensive unit. And if Silovs doesn't steal the starter's job in net, the next best option is Tristan Jarry, who was an absolute disaster last season and may be playing in the American League for the second straight year.
Meanwhile, the Sabres have more depth when it comes to elite talent. Scratch beneath Crosby and Malkin, and you have a collection of forwards that are third-liners and fourth-liners. Similarly, scratch beneath Letang and Karlsson, and you have a group of D-men that are third-pair defensemen at best.
Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Will Buffalo Shock Re-Arranged Rangers Next Year?
THN.com's ongoing series on the Buffalo Sabres and their opponents next season continues with this look at the New York Rangers and the considerable changes the Rangers have made thus far this off-season, as well as their record against the Sabres and their schedule head-to-head this coming season.
Simply put, there's not nearly enough depth in Pittsburgh to have them considered a strong possibility to make the playoffs. Dubas is going to increasingly feel the heat if the Penguins don't show some type of progress, but the truth is he needs to add more youth to this team for its best long-term interests, and that flies in the face of Crosby and the other veteran Penguins needing to win and win now.
The Sabres have more urgency to their game than the seemingly lifeless Penguins do. The Pens may have a new coach in rookie Dan Muse, and Muse has a roster that's a dog's breakfast of Grade-A, Hockey Hall-of-Fame talents and worker bees who can't create much offense on their own. Asking him to get this team into the playoffs next year is a huge ask. And we aren't sure Muse can deliver on that front.
Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Are Retooling Islanders A Better Team Than Buffalo? Welcome back to THN.com's
Buffalo Sabres site. In recent days and weeks, we've been focusing on the teams the Sabres will square off against next season. And in today's file, we're turning our attention to a team Buffalo will be taking on in the latest battl(es) of New York (state) -- the New York Islanders.
For those reasons, we see the Penguins as an opponent the Sabres absolutely have to beat at least twice, if not thrice in their three games this year. Crosby can't do it all for his team, and Buffalo needs to pounce on a weak rival to strengthen their push into a post-season position.
The Pens are major underachievers, and nothing we've seen from them this off-season convinces us that will change anytime soon. They're going to struggle, and the Sabres need to take advantage of them.