It would seem to me that new Sabres GM Tim Murray would rather be going over reports from his scouting staff than doing interviews. But it's part of his new job and he knows it. On WGR550 yesterday he confided that after the presser he labored through meeting a thousand people, yet remembering only a few names.
At the conclusion of that whirlwind he wond up with Sabres Assistant GM/Head Amateur Scout Kevin Devine going over scouting reports. And as Murray talked about that, and you got the feeling there was a sense of relief in that meeting.
For Murray, yesterday started out on WGR's Howard Simon Show, where he admitted he wasn't sure where on the dial the station was located.
After telling Murray where the station was, host Howard Simon jumped right in and asked Murray how long it would take to fix the team. Said Murray, "We know that the next two drafts are the most important times for us. After those two drafts we have to start getting better for sure."
One needs to go no further than three minutes into the interview before Murray uses the term "suffering," a term that will forever be associated with departed GM Darcy Regier.
The fact of the matter is, this team will more than likely be in the tank for the next two seasons. Suffering is not a Regierism, it's a team philosophy for the near future.
In the first three minutes of the interview Murray touched upon Pittsburgh and Chicago, two teams that were in the tank for a number of years had multiple, successive, high draft picks. And he's already looking towards the 2015 draft saying "we want to get cornerstone players here. I look at the '15 draft and it looks like a top, top-end draft. Would we like to get a couple of those players? Sure. But it means suffering for another year."
You could feel him cringe after uttering that word, "suffering."
A little bit later in the interview when asked how you balance icing a watchable product and being able to finish low enough in the standings to get a "cornerstone" player Murray said, "It's hard."
"The plan is to improve and get better," he continued. "You have to watch the team every day and you have to judge. Are you getting better and by how much? There will come a time next season where we might be five spots higher in the standings than we are now, but spinning our wheels long-term.
The trade deadline comes around, and I don't want to say "manipulate" where you're going to finish, but you make decisions based upon looking a little farther ahead in the future."
That pretty much says it all. The Sabres are intent upon landing high draft picks the next two seasons, even if they won't necessarily admit "manipulating" their place in the standings.
It also looks as if interim head coach Ted Nolan will be on board for a little while.
Murray was on SN590 The Fan yesterday (via the Buffalo News' Amy Moritz) and indicated that the "interim" tag on Nolan may disappear.
Before we get to Nolan, about Murray's appearance on The Fan. He seems much more comfortable, bordering on cozy, while talking with The Fan's Darren Millard, Scott Morrison and Doug McLean. Cozy to the point where McLean asked Murray, "Were you excited when we announced you were getting the job last week ahead of time?"
To which, Murray responded, somewhat jokingly, "I'm going, like, these people in Buffalo are going to rescind the offer. Everybody knows. Doug says for sure I have the job."
Comfortable and cozy to the point where McLean says he knows who the AGM will be, but says that he'll let Murray announce that.
Which leads one to wonder what will happen to Devine?
Not to stray too far, Murray let out that he had talked with Hockey Ops President Pat LaFontaine about Nolan. "He's our coach," said Murray, "We may talk to him shortly about his future."
With the cat already out of the bag, Murray continued, "Right now I'm happy with Teddy, happy with the effort [of the team]."
When asked if the "interim" tag was still on Nolan, Murray replied, "Today it is. To be honest, guys, I've talked to Pat, like, twice for 15 minutes the last two days and the interim tag is still on, but I can see where we
But Nolan shouldn't get too comfortable.
The boys at The Fan continue, stating that they know Murray has a coaching background, just like his uncle Bryan Murray, Ottawa's GM. And they say that they know that Murray likes to "stick his nose" in the coaching business, just like his uncle, to which Murray replies, "I do."
Then they bring up the name of Luke Richardson, head coach of the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate, whom the Murray's hired. They called him a terrific coach who's done a terrific job.
Murray knows he can't say too much as they all laugh about tampering. He simply ends up saying that Richardson is happy in Binghamton.
End of story...for now.
So what can Sabres fans expect from the team under Tim Murray in the near future?
Another season and a half of suffering to land cornerstone picks at the top of the next two drafts and Ted Nolan behind the bench.
At least that's what it looks like from here.
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