From Babs to Byls, the Buffalo coaching saga continues

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


After the Buffalo Sabres lost out to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the Mike Babcock sweepstakes they immediately turned their attention to former Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss, Dan Bylsma.

Bylsma had done some fine work for the Penguins but the organization, with new GM Jim Rutherford in charge after replacing Ray Shero, decided to go in another direction. Bylsma had taken over the reigns of a struggling Penguins team when Michel Therrien was fired February 15, 2009 and lead the team to the Stanley Cup that spring, ironically enough, defeating the Babcock-coached Wings in a tough seven-game series.

That Penguins team was relatively young and was lead by a "once in a generation player" in Sidney Crosby, and a definitive No. 1 center in Evgeni Malkin. Along with those two were second overall pick Jordan Staal and first-overall pick, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. All were drafted between 2003 and 2006 and were in their early 20's that Cup-winning team.

From Rutherford and the Penguins, however, it would seem as if Bylsma rode that Cup-win long enough. After five seasons of making the playoffs, and making the conference final once, Bylsma was shown the door on June 6, 2014. He did not coach last season.

Everything seems to be in place for the Sabres to hire him save for one little hitch--Rutherford and the Penguins are looking for compensation in the form of a third round draft pick. TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted this around noon today, "Sounds like dispute/clarity over draft pick compensation is one of the few things holding up the Sabres hiring Bylsma. Can't be deal breaker."


As posted here on the last blog, Bylsma does have some question marks when it comes to his coaching style and the system he used in Pittsburgh. It has been said that Bylsma's Stanley Cup was using the system that Therrien had in place, and when he brought in his own system, it's complexities and reliance upon older, less-skilled players (some of whom weren't comfortable playing that way) fell short.

Something like that is neither here nor there in Sabreland as Sabres GM Tim Murray along with owners Terry and Kim Pegula are ready to make him the next head coach. And if they're balking at sending compensation back Pittsburgh's way, I'm behind them 100%.

I don't care how many third-rounders the Buffalo Sabres may or may not have, the fact of the matter is that Bylsma is no longer employed by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is being paid by the Pens as part of something that could be described as a severance package, but he was fired by the team. It's totally different than the Red Wings receiving a third-round pick for Babcock as he was still employed by Detroit.

Regardless, nothing ever seems to come easy for the Sabres these days. In Babcock, the Sabres were inches away from landing the coach before the Maple Leafs came in with an 11th-hour offer. In Bylsma, they're ready to make him head coach, but the Penguins are trying to receive something that never was intended to be a part of the deal.

Personally, I don't think the Sabres should fret all that much. If they get him, fine. If they miss out, fine. Odds are that he will not be the coach when/if the Sabres reach their ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup.