Heading into the NHL season this year the Buffalo Sabres were not supposed to be any good but recently Midseason rankings by ESPN will be good news for Sabres fans.

ESPN recently published its midseason rankings of all 32 NHL teams and it had a surprising ranking for the Buffalo Sabres.

Overall ESPN has given The Buffalo Sabres an overall grade of a C which is better than several other NHL teams including the Montreal Canadians, The New Jersey Devils, The New York Islanders, and The Philadelphia Flyers.

ESPN had a high grade for Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin naming him the team's midseason MVP.

Under coach Don Granato, Dahlin is flourishing on the Sabres' blueline, leads the team in scoring and is on pace to shatter his previous numbers in every offensive category as well. It's no wonder he's a first-time All-Star Game selection this year, too

They also rated Sabres forward Victor Olofsson as a weak link for the team halfway through the season.

When you're a regular forward that hasn't scored a goal since October, something has gone wrong.

Currently, the Sabres are 14-23-7 on the season and they are sitting in 6th place in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference and hoping to make a push for the playoffs in the second half of the season.

The Buffalo Sabres haven't made the NHL playoffs since the 2010-2011 season, and they haven't won a playoff series since the 2006-2007 season.

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