Sabres' unique group of 5 could have major ripple effect

Five in the Top 75 in scoring over the last five years. No team can match that.
And that's how this story begins.
With the additions of Eric Staal and Taylor Hall, the Sabres have legitimately surrounded Jack Eichel and augmented their forward group to a status that is uniquely impressive as it stands today in the NHL.
Eichel has 337 points over his first five seasons, good enough for 23rd among forwards league-wide. Taylor Hall has 300 over that time to rank 35th. Despite just completing his age 35 season, the 30s have been kind to Eric Staal as his 279 points rank 45th.
Like Eich(el), Sam Reinhart has completed five full seasons and his 254 points place him 63rd. And despite coming off of the worst season of his 10-year career, Jeff Skinner slides in at 73rd on this list with 249 points over the past five seasons. (Switch the focus to goals only and Skinner stands 20th - and 8th if you zero in on even-strength goals.)
The Sabres are the only team with five players among the top 75 scoring forwards over the past five seasons.

Vegas, St. Louis, Toronto, Boston and Washington each have four.
Four of those five teams rank in the top six in winning percentage during that time. And that's where Buffalo is striving to get to - and quickly.
Of course, there is no direct correlation between a statistic like this and ultimate success. But since Chicago's dynasty began in 2010, for example, most often the Stanley Cup has been won by high-ranking offensive teams (7 of the last 11 have ranked in the top 10 in goals per game).

Ironically, the Los Angeles Kings championship teams of 2012 and 2014 were the true outliers in this regard, ranking 29th and 28th offensively in their Cup years. However, in 2012, they boasted a roster that had four players in the top 50 in scoring over the previous five years, and the 2014 roster had six in the top 75. Why they couldn't score in the regular season those years remains a mystery.
But it's never just about the top point producers.
Teams bank on their consistency, but they find success when those players elevate those around them. And what contributions will you get from those slightly less experienced?
Brad Marchand turned 23 during the Bruins' Cup run of 2011 and as a rookie produced 11 post-season goals. Brandon Saad was 22 when he scored 8 playoff goals (behind only Kane and Toews) to spark the Hawks to a third title in six years. Would the Penguins have won a second-straight Cup in 2017 without 22-year old rookie Jake Guentzel's 13 playoff goals?
Could Victor Olofsson replicate production like this?
What if Tage Thompson earns a spot in the top six and produces 20-plus goals?
Maybe Dylan Cozens is ready?
Or maybe this added depth simply allows the bottom six to regularly outscore the bottom six of their opponents?
These questions lead to the game of choice among Sabres' fans these days - Assembling The Lines!
So without any clue as to when play will begin, how these players will perform in camp, and how many games they may have played in other leagues prior to the NHL's return, here goes nothing (or

for Foo Fighters fans out there).
Taylor Hall - Jack Eichel - Tage Thompson
Victor Olofsson - Eric Staal - Dylan Cozens
Jeff Skinner - Cody Eakin - Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons - Curtis Lazar - Kyle Okposo
Extra: Tobias Rieder
The great part about this exercise now is that being completely wrong could still result in heightened anticipation for what becomes reality.
Maybe it looks more like this:
Hall - Eichel - Reinhart
Skinner - Staal - Olofsson
Rieder - Eakin - Thompson
Girgensons - Lazar - Okposo
Extra: Rasmus Asplund
Or maybe, because one of these players has (at least) a three-month head start...
Hall - Eichel - Cozens
Olofsson - Staal - Reinhart
Skinner - Arttu Ruotsalainen - Thompson
Girgensons - Eakin - Okposo
Extras: Lazar, Rieder
Will Casey Mittelstadt disrupt any of these projections?
Can Asplund use his head start playing on loan in Sweden to earn a longer look this season in Buffalo?
Are there still more moves to be made via trade or free agency?
Regardless of how those questions are answered, and as a firm believer in annually proving your worth, Staal, Hall and Reinhart essentially being on one-year deals could have a tremendously positive effect on this team.
12. 4. 23.
Win. Place. Show.
Doesn't matter the order. Just get to the winner's circle more often.
They now have more horses to do so.