"I can see it and feel it and know where we're headed, so to have this group I can have that vision," Granato said after practice at LECOM Harborcenter.
"It's so clear in my head that it's exciting to know they're coming back. We will build on wherever we leave off the season and we will be able to build on it pretty quick because we have such great continuity with our player personnel."
The Sabres have an abundance of practice time during the final two weeks of their season, a luxury they had not been afforded since mid-March. From March 23 to April 17, the Sabres did not have a single two-day break between games. They played two back-to-back sets in that span.
Buffalo has had three days to prepare for its next game, in New Jersey on Thursday. It will have four days between a home game against the New York Islanders on Saturday and a visit to Boston next Thursday.
"We're not operating in one respect that the season ends in four games," Granato said. "We're pushing. We know we're going to have a large part of this group back next year. It's continual."
The Sabres have iced a six-man defense corps with an average age of 22 in recent games - all of whom are under contract for next season. The same is true up front, where Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, Casey Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner, and Alex Tuch are all signed for multiple seasons going forward.
Granato has placed an emphasis during this latter phase of the season on making those parts interchangeable. The Sabres had gone a long period with two consistent forward lines - one being Skinner, Thompson, and Tuch; the other Rasmus Asplund, Mittelstadt, and Victor Olofsson. Granato swapped Tuch and Olofsson ahead of their back-to-back set against the Flyers last weekend.
"We shuffled lines and I don't we missed a beat last week," Granato said. "We looked like were in a good rhythm. Guys knew where each other were on the ice and it looked like there was instant chemistry.
"I'm more looking at overall team chemistry when I switch a line, not this player to this player. It's a completely different emphasis. I'm not looking for some miracle new line combination. I'm trying to see how we're playing together as a team with guys switching all the time."
The same goes for the power play, which has grown stronger as the year has gone on. The Sabres rank fifth in the NHL with a 28.6-percent conversion rate since March 1. They rank first at 39.3 percent since April 1.
"We've really concentrated on spreading the wealth as far as skill," Granato said. "The joke behind the scenes is there isn't a second unit because we think both can score. We set it up that way and I think we'll be able to do that in the future."
Mattias Samuelsson remained absent due to a personal matter but will meet the team in New Jersey for their game on Thursday, Granato said.
Kyle Okposo, who took a maintenance day on Tuesday, participated in practice.
The team lined up as follows:
| April 20 |
| --- |
| | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 24 Dylan Cozens | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| 96 Anders Bjork | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | 20 Cody Eakin | 15 John Hayden |
| LD | RD | G |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 4 Will Butcher | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |
| 33 Colin Miller | 13 Mark Pysyk | |
