The battle of the Q.E.W. has long played against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even with the Buffalo Sabres playing at a level of mediocrity over the past number of seasons, they’ve held an upper hand on their cross-border rivals. Now, however, the Sabres seem to be revitalized and with that so will the overall rivalry between these two clubs.
After moving on from Jack Eichel, the Sabres seemed to turn the page on their lack of success coming in as a bubble team as they closed out the 2022-23 season. While there still are some holes in their lineup and their youth movement will be a major question mark this season, the Sabres enter 2023-24 as a team that should make a major improvement over last season when it comes to the Atlantic Division.
With that, along with the moves made by the Maple Leafs this offseason, here’s how this highway hockey rivalry breaks down this season.
Sabres Set to Make Noise in the Atlantic
They lost their starter from a year ago, when Craig Anderson retired following last season. But goaltending might be the biggest question mark for the Sabres this season. They are currently set to roll with the likes of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi which falls in line with their overall youth movement, but could ultimately cost them in the long-run if they can’t get consistent goaltending.
Still, the team has improved overall outside of the crease. Additions like Erik Johnson, Connor Clifton and Jordan Greenaway will bolster an already exciting lineup, while the possibility of Zach Benson, a more tenured J-J Peterka and Owen Power add more headlines to a growing threat in the Atlantic Division.
The Sabres will also look to veteran Jeff Skinner to continue on his run, while a full season out of Alex Tuch could prove to be a major addition to the team’s offence. Even if Rasmus Dahlin doesn’t duplicate his production from last season, the Sabres should see improvement over 2022-23.
Maple Leafs Have History of Playing Down
One of the reasons the Maple Leafs have lacked success against the Sabres in recent memory is the team’s continuous ability to play down to weaker opponents. The one aspect of this season’s matchup that could play into the Maple Leafs’ favour is that the Sabres are a better club this season — which means theoretically the Maple Leafs should bring their best when they suit up opposite the Sabres.
The Maple Leafs improved their overall team depth this season and boosted it even more if William Nylander does, in fact, play centre this upcoming season. The shift gives the Maple Leafs three legitimate scoring lines, with their fourth line playing the expected role of the checkers. While the Nylander experiment has stalled for now, it’s an option they could explore moving forward.
Related: Maple Leafs’ 2023-24 Atlantic Divison Preview – Boston Bruins
On top of that, the Maple Leafs have a problem that the Sabres would love to have — a goaltending decision to make. Right now, the expectation is the Maple Leafs will likely enter the season with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll as their duo. That said, Martin Jones has made an argument to possibly start the season with the big club, but both Woll and Jones would need waivers to be sent down. So, the Maple Leafs would likely lose them if one of them were to be waived.
While it’s a decision the staff will have to make, it’s a good problem to have when discussing question marks in a team’s lineup. While the decision remains unknown at this time, the Maple Leafs will have some more experience between the pipes to start this season.
Maple Leafs, Sabres in 2022-23
As for last season, these two teams met just three times over the 82-game schedule. The Maple Leafs had the upper hand going 2-1-0 over those three games earning four of a possible six points for the team. They outscored the Sabres 14 to nine over that span and carried a .667 point percentage up front.
The Maple Leafs won the first two meetings of the season, but gave up four goals in their final meeting, losing 4-3 in the middle of March. In the end, it didn’t matter as both the Maple Leafs were once again knocked out of the playoffs — this time in the second round at least — at the hands of the Florida Panthers on their way to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Sabres hold a significant edge all-time against the Maple Leafs, with the blue and white holding a record of 86-110-18-11 in 225 regular season games. To worsen those numbers, the Maple Leafs have been outscored 801 to 642 over that span as well — certainly not something to be that proud of when you consider how bad the Sabres have been for some of those years.
Still, this will be an interesting matchup to watch in 2023-24 as the Sabres are looking for that upper hand once again — a team much improved over the 2022-23 Sabres that just missed out on playoff action last season.
Prediction: Maple Leafs, Sabres Will Split Season Series
Optimism might be indifferent in this situation. While the Maple Leafs could surely use the points in divisional matchups like this, the Sabres have — as we’ve seen — consistently had their number when they go head-to-head.
These two clubs meet four times during the regular season this year and it will likely be a closely played season series as it tends to be. There’s some hatred there between Dahlin and Auston Matthews that should continue to cook, but the Sabres did improve this offseason while the Maple Leafs kind of levelled out.
Goaltending could be the difference maker between these two teams, but either way expect a lot of physicality and a lot of goal scoring when these two clubs meet this season — the first of which comes on November 4.
