The Rebuilds Are Over: Sabres and Canadiens Have Arrived

There was a time, maybe two or three seasons ago, when you could look at what the Buffalo Sabres and Montréal Canadiens had cooking with their drafts and minor league teams and say: "If they can do things the right way, they'll be a problem to deal with."

That time is happening right now and it's already appointment viewing.

Watching the Sabres and Canadiens face off in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Habs' second straight year in the postseason and the Sabres' first since 2011, the grand designs of both organizations' development dreams are showing out.

Seeing Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovský and Cole Caufield emerge as major players with Nick Suzuki for Montréal while Zach Benson and Josh Doan step up for Rasmus Dahlin and Buffalo it also highlights the ways teams can make drafting work for them.

In the Canadiens' case, getting lottery luck and landing Slafkovský first overall in 2022 and being able to have him join with Hutson (second round in 2022) and Caufield (first round 2019) helped solidify a young core that's carrying them forward now in 2026.

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With Suzuki, who was acquired from Vegas as a prospect in the Max Pacioretty deal in 2018, leading them as an also young but more senior player, it's given the Canadiens a group they know will allow them to compete year after year. After all, they served notice last season making the playoffs somewhat unexpectedly quick after drafting Slafkovský and Hutson.

Youth is king in the NHL and with the speed and excitement in the way the Canadiens play, it's proof positive that it can work when the right mix is put together.

It works even better when you can add other talented young players from other organizations. Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Noah Dobson and Zachary Bolduc stand out and fill Montréal's lineup in a way that has made them that much more formidable and why they have been one of the best teams in the East.

When you look at how the Sabres have climbed out of the pit of mediocrity they've been mired in for over a decade, the mix of guys they've drafted and how they've used other prospects to acquire other, different young players and veterans shows, it's not always about who you pick but how you can mold your team if things don't work out.

Even though they've watched Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart win Stanley Cups elsewhere almost right away after being traded by the Sabres, watching Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs (each acquired for Eichel) run their first line with Tage Thompson (acquired for O'Reilly) this season and into the playoffs showed that the road to success can be painful but also a force when it all comes together.

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On the other hand, watching Doan evolve into a star player immediately after coming over from Utah for J-J Peterka showed that sometimes you don't have to wait it out to see a trade play out in your favor.

Having Doan playing with Benson (first round, 2023) and Josh Norris (acquired for 2019 first-round pick Dylan Cozens a year ago) or Noah Östlund (first round, 2022; pick acquired in Eichel trade) has given them a forward trio that's proved to be useful in varying ways either as a scoring unit or an energy line. With Benson and Doan stepping up in the playoffs, it's made the Sabres deeper and dangerous.

"We can put numbers on (the lines) one, two, three, four but I think on nights where maybe sometimes your best players are taken care of or they're not having their best night, we've had another line that that's picked up the pace or another line that's been able to pick up the pace for us," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said following Game 1.

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It's not all about turning high draft picks into trade chips; sometimes those players get to stick around, too. Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in 2018, and Owen Power, the top pick in 2021, have given the Sabres a deep and dangerous defense corps.

Add in Mattias Samuelsson (second round, 2018) and Bo Byram (No. 4 pick in 2019, acquired from Colorado for Casey Mittelstadt who was taken eighth in 2017) and it's a top four group that's suddenly one of the best in the NHL.

While Power and Samuelsson provide brilliant defensive play, Dahlin and Byram have juiced up the offense. Byram scored his fourth goal of the playoffs in Game 1 against the Canadiens and after helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2022, he's hoping to make it two with the Sabres.

"He really relishes the opportunity to be playing for something big," Ruff said. "To win a playoff series, getting another playoff series and a possible win on a second series. He's trying to make every play count. He's been there before, and he's got that taste, and you can see the hunger he has."

Although the Sabres got a step ahead of the Canadiens with a 4-2 win in Game 1, as Montréal showed in their seven-game series win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they'll find a way to get back into it come hell or high water.

"What I liked, a totally different kind of feel of the game than against Tampa," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "I felt our top guys got more touches in space and stuff. And that's what I liked. And I liked that we battled.

"It wasn't the start that we wanted in the game, in the series. But we're going to keep going.""It wasn't the start that we wanted in the game, in the series. But we're going to keep going."

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What we're being treated to in every game of this series, no matter how long it goes, is the arrival of the next wave of incredible talent on the biggest stage in hockey.

Watching these rebuilds pay off in real time and reigniting old rivalries is the kind of fun we all get to enjoy.