Unless the Sabres make a big addition, this will be a disappointing offseason.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff have said repeatedly that the goal is to win now. The problem is, the roster they’ve put together isn’t good enough, unless you ask the general manager.

“I really like the progress we made today and we took a big step toward the type of team we need to be,” Adams said Monday afternoon. “We’re tougher to play against, direct, fast, physical, exhausting and physical.”

After the first day of free agency and the 2024 NHL Draft, the Sabres have made some solid additions, but those hoping for a big splash will have to wait a little longer. In the first hour of free agency, the team added veteran forward Jason Zucker. He’s a solid player and should be a second contributor on the power play and help the second power play unit. But if he’s the most significant addition, the team could extend the NHL’s longest playoff drought by one season.

In addition to Zucker, the team added speed and grit to its fourth line with the additions of Sam Lafferty, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Beck Melenstyn. It’s a completely revamped fourth line that will bring some sandpaper and speed to a team that lacks it. I’m a fan of the additions of Lafferty and Aube-Kubel, especially given their contracts, and I think they’ll help the bottom half of the roster. In a vacuum, I really like what the Sabres did Monday.

But it’s what they didn’t do that worries me. My issue is the midfield. As it stands, Peyton Krebs is slotted in as the Sabres’ third-line center. Last season, Krebs had four goals and 13 assists in 80 games. Unless he can triple his offensive output, the Sabres are going to leave some flesh on the bone and put too much pressure on their top two lines. Krebs is a restricted free agent and needs a new contract, and the Sabres should give him one. But counting on him to be a productive third-line center given his track record seems too risky for my taste.

“We have a lot of talent and skill and I think we’ve proven over the years that we have players that are as talented as anybody, that can make plays, but we needed to round out the group and get tougher,” Adams said. “We needed to have a little bit more presence to go after teams and turn them around and be that tougher team to play against. The talent is exciting and it’s great, but we needed to improve the mix a little bit and that’s why we were so focused on that and we need to be better defensively.”

I have the same problem with forcing Zach Benson to play on the second line. His rookie season was exceptional, but he would be better suited to play on the third line, where his matchups wouldn’t be as difficult. Unless Zucker rediscovers the scoring talent he had in 2022-23, Benson will have to build on his rookie season and take the next step, which seems presumptuous for a second-year player.

Adams is also banking on Thompson, Cozens, Quinn and Tuch bouncing back. It could very well happen, but it doesn’t give the Sabres much margin for error. Even with a fairly thin list of free agents remaining, the Sabres still have plenty of assets they could use to make a trade. Adams isn’t ruling it out, but he didn’t suggest it would be likely Monday.

“It’s not like the offseason stops, you know, there’s discussions going on and once the dust settles a little bit and you see where different teams are, but I really like where our group is right now,” Adams said. “I really like it. I like the way our team looks, we had goals coming into this offseason that we were trying to accomplish and I think we’re a much better team today than we were a couple days ago.”

I don’t disagree with the idea, and I like all of the notable free agent moves the team has made so far. But what the team hasn’t done with the salary space it still has will overshadow any positives the rest of the summer. Buffalo still has over $20 million in salary space, and nearly $10 million if they re-sign each of their four restricted free agents.

Until the Sabres hit the salary cap, I’ll question their willingness to compete. There’s still time for that to change with a big trade and the money the Sabres have to spend, so maybe Adams has a trick up his sleeve. Sabres fans better hope he does.