Where's the bottom for this Buffalo Sabres franchise?

In 1956 the New York Football Giants won the NFL Championship and for five of the next six seasons they made it to the NFL championship game only to lose. Regardless of that fact the Giants were considered a model franchise but after their 14-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in the 1963 championship game, New York went 17 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs and got progressively worse (4-23-1 in 1973 and '74 combined) before stagnating well below the .500 mark until the 80's.

Football fans largely ignored the Giants and in a pre-ESPN era where game highlights were mainly shown via local news broadcasts and in Sunday pre-game or halftime shows (think Monday Night Football with a national audience,) out of sight, out of mind. As the New York football Giants continued floundering through another lost season, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did. On November 19, 1978 with New York up 17-12 over the Philadelphia Eagles late in the game, the 'brain'-trust on the sideline scoffed at the thought of kneeling to run out the clock and 'boldly' decided to run a complicated play. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik's handoff to Larry Csonka was flubbed and Eagles cornerback Herm Edwards scooped up the fumble for the winning touchdown.

Why this story in a blog about the Buffalo Sabres?

It's about finding the bottom.

The Pegula mushroom cloud that was June 16, 2020 in Sabreland

A few days ago on June 16, the owners of the Buffalo Sabres, Terry and Kim Pegula, dropped what would become a bomb on the hockey world beginning with the announcement that general manager Jason Botterill had been fired and an in-house replacement, Senior Vice President of Business Administration, Kevyn Adams would take over the position. We wouldn't know just how big of a bomb they had just dropped on the entire hockey operations department until we witnessed the huge mushroom cloud above Washington St. later that evening.

After a 2 pm Zoom conference call going over the morning events, the Sabres announced that Botterill's right hand men, AGM's Steve Greeley and Randy Sexton, the latter being the general manager of the Rochester Americans also got the boot. Sexton's staff in Rochester were also let go as head coach Chris Taylor plus his assistants Gord Dineen and Toby Peterson were shown the door as well as 14 of the team's 21 scouts, whom we'll name here:

Ryan Jankowski, Director of Amateur Scouting

Jeff Crisp, Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting

Amateur scouts Cory Banika, Steve Cocker, Mark Ferner, Marcus Fingal, Scott Halpenny, Randy Hansch, Tom O'Connor, Ron Pyette, Matt Tiesling and Magnus Weing

Pro Scout John Van Boxmeer

Player Development Coaches Krys Barch and Mike Komisarek

Dennis Miller, Rehab and Development (Performance Dept.)

BOOOOOM!

Frank Servalli, Senior Hockey Reporter for TSN tweeted of the purge, "It's a bloodletting that may be unprecedented in #NHL history - certainly in one day by one franchise."

Sure enough. It's now Friday, the dust has settled and the crater caused by this leaves Adams as a mere speck in the chasm created.

Sabres Pegula should take note of Dr. Fauci's taking lead in Covid-19 pandemic

Far be it for me to equate sports with a life-threatening pandemic that's sweeping the globe, but when looking at the Buffalo Sabres and how the Trump administration responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially with whom in their respective roles as department leaders, there are some parallels.

Prior to the NHL suspending the 2019-20 season, the Buffalo Sabres were on their way to an NHL-long ninth consecutive season outside of the playoffs. Since Terry Pegula bought the team in 2011 they've gone through a short-lived President of Hockey Operations, are on their third team president, third general manager and sixth head coach. The overall choppy results, at best, since he took over are representative of an organization that has neither found the right people nor found the right philosophy to guide the franchise out of this mess.

It's Deja vu all over again as the Sabres right now look like the Sabres of the post-Drury/Briere era

Former Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier was pretty much dead on when he was building his team for the "new NHL" prior to the 2004-05 lockout. He came out of that owner-imposed loss of a full season with a team that was poised to become the most exciting group of players in the NHL.

Regier came out of the Dominik Hasek/Michael Peca "hardest working team in hockey" era and began to build more with speed and skill as well as a focus on puck-movers on the blueline. Coming out to the lockout Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Thomas Vanek,  Max Afinogenov, Tim Connolly, Derek Roy were either fast, skilled or a combination of both-up front while the defense had Brian Campbell, Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder and Dmitri Kalinin who were noted for their skating and/or puck-moving and/or offensive abilities.

Having said that, the 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres also had some tenacity baked into the lineup with the likes of Mike Grier, JP Dumont, Jay McKee and Toni Lydman who could hold their place in the lineup while adding a ton of sandpaper to a team that had a lot of skill and finesse. That team was the surprise of the league that season and were it not for a rash of injuries on defense, they very well could have represented the east in the Stanley Cup Finals instead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who beat Buffalo in seven games in the conference finals and went on to win the Cup.

Domink Kahun could be a boon to the Sabres' middle-six

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill gave his inconsistent, middling team a shot in the arm when he traded for a skill-forward in Dominik Kahun. The 24 yr. old Kahun is on his third team after being signed by the Chicago Blackhawks, who then traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins last June. Kahun was then traded tot he Sabres at the 2020 trade deadline this past Monday.

Although Kahun played center in Germany he has been on the wing in the NHL and it raises the question of can he play center in the best hockey league in the world? Sabres bench boss Ralph Krueger hasn't ruled it out, but for now Kahun will be riding shotgun somewhere in the middle-six of the lineup.

Post-NHL trade deadline, Sabres add, subtract and hit the road.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill had the difficult task of walking a tightrope at the 2020 NHL trade deadline. His Sabres team hadn't really given him a clear direction as to where they were headed this season and prior to the trade deadline they posted a 7-6-1 record in 13 games between the All-Star break and the deadline. The beginning of that stretch started out rough with two home losses against very beatable teams and had everyone leaning towards selling at the deadline. It ended with two very diverse and convincing wins against two playoff teams. In the middle there were highs and lows.

Moving forward Buffalo will need to put together an impressive final 20 games to land the only spot they have a shot at. The Sabres are 29-25-8 right now which puts them on a pace for 87 points. They'll need to up that pace as 96 points might be the benchmark they'll need to shoot for to land the third spot in the Atlantic Division, which is somewhere akin to a 14-4-2 record.

Buffalo Sabres 2020 NHL Trade Deadline conundrum

It would have been easy if the Buffalo Sabres came out of the All-Star Break definitively moving in one direction or another. When the Sabres returned from an elongated break which saw their "bye week" backed up against the All-Star festivities, Buffalo sat 10 points out of third in the Atlantic Division and 11 points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Although it was still a longshot to make the playoffs, the Sabres had 33 games left to play and nine of their next 10 games were at home where they were sporting a 14-6-3 record at the time.

If they could get on a little run during this home stretch Buffalo could conceivably be in the thick of a playoff race and with two games off the bat at home against the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, neither of whom were powerhouses, getting off to a hot start certainly would fuel hope that they could pull something off in the 13 games leading up to today's trade deadline.

Whelp, it didn't go as planned. Buffalo put up a stinker in the 5-2 loss vs. Ottawa and although they were better against Montreal, they came up short, 3-1. However, even with those two losses, they still remained 10 points out of third place and 11 points out of the second wild card spot.

This Sabres team has proven itself worthy of a contribution by their GM

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-18-2019


With a 16-12-7 record, this edition of the Buffalo Sabres are on pace for about 91 points, which is above where many pundits thought they would be and far above where most Sabres cynics believed they could hope for. How Buffalo got to this point 35 games into the season is somewhat of a surprise as they started out hot, got ice cold and have been trudging and trending upward since he latter part of November. As of now they're second in the Atlantic Division with three games to go before the Christmas break and they're doing it with basically the same team they had last season when they finished 27th in the league. Unfortunately, Buffalo also carried over a glaring issue from last season, most notably an invisible middle-six forward group.

The top line is fine as long as they have Jack Eichel leading the way. To say he's taken his game to another level might be an understatement as the captain may have jumped two notches over the past month. Eichel is riding an impressive 17-game point-streak which is one game shy from tying a franchise record held by Sabres legend Gilbert Perreault. During his streak Eichel has tallied 16 goals and 15 assists and during this run he's not living off of the lone secondary assist to keep it going as he's had four multi-games and nine multi-point games. The last two games he scored the game-tying goal against the NY Islanders with less than two minutes remaining and last night in Toronto he scored to keep the game within reach.

How to beat the Buffalo Sabres. Plus...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-21-2019


In practices and meetings heading up to a game against the Buffalo Sabres, it isn't to far-fetched to believe that coaches across the league will have the same talking points on how to play against them. First and foremost attention must be paid to the Jack Eichel and there needs to be a focus on Jeff Skinner.

With Eichel disrupt him in the neutral zone so he can't use his speed and do your best to inhibit his shot. If he's on he'll force the issue and he might not be contained. If he's not feeling it he'll try to set-up team mates, in which case do your best to disrupt his passes. If he's frustrated Eichel will try to do too much and dangle, which is much more easily defended. When it comes to Skinner get on him and try to keep him away from open ice. There should be concern at times for his linemates, as they could heat up and do some damage, but odds are if you shut down Skinner, the entire line is basically shut down.

Those are the two guys who at any given moment can get them rolling and like with most (if not all team,) when they get rolling, confidence builds and it runs through every player. However, if you can stifle them, and get them doubting themselves, it's a breeze.

Krueger Crisis? A 2-6-2 slide makes you wonder what's next for the Sabres

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-18-2019


Buffalo Sabres bench boss Ralph Krueger was a motivational speaker at one point in his professional life and even wrote a book:  Teamlilfe - Über Niederlagen zum Erfolg. Teamlife is his motivational company and the English translation of the rest is Beyond Setbacks to Success, which is what a motivational book should be all about. In case you were wondering, the entire book is in German, a language Krueger is fluent in, and as of now there's no English translation.

Perhaps head coach Krueger needs to revisit "motivational" Krueger's book because his hockey team is facing more than a setback right now. In fact, he may even want to get an English translation of the book and hand it to his players as his Sabres are in the midst of a pretty good slump. After beginning the season 8-1-1 while looking motivated and on fire, the team is now mired in a 2-6-2 slide while  looking tired and beaten only a quarter into the season.

The latest setback for Buffalo came last night in a place they rarely win, the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Sabres dropped a 4-1 decision to the Blackhawks and ran their record of futility in the Windy City to 0-7-3 in their last 10 games. Buffalo hasn't won in Chicago since January 7, 2007.

Checking in on the prospect pool with Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com, Part I

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-4-2019

This is the first of a two-part series looking at the Sabres prospect pool as of today with Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com.

After chatting about the Sabres prospect pool with Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com, one is left with the sense that the organization has come a long way in the last three years but that there is also still plenty of work to do.

Right now there's a symmetrical dividing line between the Tim Murray regime and that of present general manager Jason Botterill as each was in charge of three NHL Drafts. The difference between Murray's picks from 4-6 years ago and Botterill's from the last three years can't be fully compared as not enough time has elapsed for the players selected to reach their ultimate hockey potential, but what we do know is that Botterill took over as general manager with a thin prospect pool and that he pretty much had to rebuild a rebuild.

"It took some time to reset some things when Botterill came in," said Baker via a phone interview yesterday. "The previous regime didn't really draft and develop all that well. Murray's group had a couple of guys out of [those drafts] but you're not really gonna screw up when you're picking at the top of the draft with players like [Sam] Reinhart and [Jack] Eichel. They go through the prospect ranks fairly quickly. When that happens you don't have a lot of depth behind them."

If there's something up Jason Botterill's sleeve, he's giving no indication

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-8-2019


Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill has all the players signed he's ready to enter training camp with. Botterill and the arbitration system got Buffalo through the final four cases when the arbiter decided terms for Evan Rodrigues, Remi Elie and goalie Linus Ullmark while the Sabres and Jake McCabe reached a two-year agreement prior to his case. In all, Buffalo has used up 46 of the 50 allotted pro contracts and are presently about $1.1 million over the NHL's cap ceiling for 2019-20, which doesn't bother him one bit.

As a capologist for the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other duties that come with the title of Associate General Manger, Botterill was responsible for keeping the Pens on track and under the cap with a top-heavy roster featuring a combined cap-hit of over $25 million for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang (which by today's standards doesn't seem like a lot for three probable Hall of Famers.) Botterill wasn't phased by the cap problem facing the Sabres as he told the hosts of The Instigators yesterday, "We don't have to do anything until the start of October," he told hosts Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet while also stressing that the team was not pressed into dealing one of their players. "We like the situation we're in right now. We don't have to make a trade to be cap compliant. We've gone over a 'zillion' different scenarios, and we don't have to make a trade to be cap compliant."

Of this year and next, Botterill putting a big stamp on Sabres

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-14-2019


When Jason Botterill was hired on May 11, 2017 as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, the first-time GM had a lot thrown at him. The Sabres had been without a GM since April 10, they needed to find a head coach, the Vegas expansion draft was just days before NHL draft, which was coming soon, and there was the start of free agency on July 1st, less than two months away. Botterill had inherited a team that woefully underperformed the prior season and rumors of locker room tumult underscored a 33-37-12 record and a last place finish in the Atlantic Division (26th in the league.)

It wasn't supposed to be this way. In 2015, the Sabres greeted the post-tank years with the hiring of a Stanley Cup-winning head coach and their GM was able to land a true franchise center and a No. 2 center all in the same day as Buffalo announced the selection of Jack Eichel second-overall in the 2015 NHL Draft just after announcing they'd traded for Ryan O'Reilly. Then GM Tim Murray added other pieces and put together some fine individual players to surround Eichel and 2014 second-overall pick Sam Reinhart with but it never came together.

Botterill was left with a mess on his hands. The big club was floundering in a state of disarray despite a good amount of talent on the Sabres with Buffalo's minor league teams left decimated by the tank years of 2013-15. When he took over the job Botterill stressed a number of things which included the Sabres getting better, a rebuild of the farm system and a reliance on drafting and developing players. Much to the dismay of the fanbase and some in the media, this process would take time and when he told a local radio station the evening of his hire that "I think I have more of a patient, systematic approach to making decisions," he wasn't just whistling Dixie.

A light, semi-productive opening to free agency for the Sabres

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-2-2019


The Buffalo Sabres went into the start of free agency with some holes to fill up front and left with those holes mostly still there. There's a need at No. 2 center that needs to be filled and another top-six spot or two on the wing as well. Buffalo did nothing to address those with a free agent signing but were able to pull off a trade for top-nine forward Jimmy Vesey.

If that name sounds familiar, it should as the rights to Vesey were acquired by then Sabres GM Tim Murray for a third round pick. Vesey was drafted 66th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2012 NHL Draft and finished his four-years stint at Harvard by winning the Hobey Baker Award as NCAA's top player. Upon finishing up he let the Predators know of his intention to become a free agent in August. Nashville then sent his rights to the Sabres for a well-traveled third round pick that was originally Minnesota's but changed hands five other times before Nashville used it on center Rem Pitlick (76th-overall.)

Murray conceded it was "a gamble" at the time but also asked, "Why not us? Why not give it a shot?" The team just spent the prior four years drafting 34 players including 10 first rounders and were also seen as a team on the rise with a young core bolstered by a trio of young vets. However, Vesey's camp had repeated time and again that they would be testing the market come August 15. Vesey's father Jim, who had played for the Boston Bruins ever so briefly, said he was "surprised the deal went down.

"It's still my understanding that he's going to free agency," the elder Vesey said of his son. "The gameplan was to have a list of possible teams ready, get to Aug. 15 and then decide. I know nothing has changed. I bet Jimmy's surprised by [Buffalo trading for him] too."

Sure enough, Vesey tested the market and signed with the NY Rangers. Three years later the Sabres sent another third-round pick, this time to New York to acquire Vesey.

What would you do if Sabres GM Jason Botterill made minimal moves?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-25-2019


If Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill went into next season with virtually the same lineup that got him to 26th in the NHL last season, one would expect the collective psyche of Sabre fans to be a blown gasket. The Peace Bridge Authorities would be on high alert for fans wanting to jump from the bridge. Ace hardware and big-box DYI stores would run out of tiki torches and pitchforks while police in and around KeyBank Center would be on the lookout for any and all potential signs of trouble.
Yeah, it would be bad. Maybe not as bad as described above save for social media and various chat-rooms. The furor there would be fueled by the rage and angst of a pertetually afflicted Buffalo sports-base venting mushroom clouds of anger and blame directed at anyone and everyone even remotely associated with the organization. Hell, it might even include Rip Simonick, Brian "Spinner" Spencer or Taro Tsujimoto as well as the entire fictitious Tokyo Katanas hockey club. 
Yes, Sabres fans, after eight playoff-less seasons centered around a tank-induced suffering, it really is that bad but it's on the upswing. Ever so slowly. Two team presidents, three general managers and six coaches later, Buffalo's hockey club has shown signs that it may be lifting itself off of the canvas, but there's a long way to go before they begin to smell respectability
For the 2019 off seasons, anything less than at least a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman (preferably both) would mean utter failure to most in Sabreland and one might strongly believe that GM Jason Botterill is aware of his teams holes and is trying to address them, albeit in his own methodical and calculated way. Buffalo is in need of a No. 2 center, a top-six winger and a top-four defenseman, preferably one who can play at least 70 games and not look as if he's fresh from Junior-A playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Krueger's optimism may be put to the test amidst a Sabres culture of losing

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-18-2019

For as much "natural, organic" communication Ralph Krueger had with Sabres general manager Jason Botterill, and despite the comfort level he felt with owners Terry and Kim Pegula, Buffalo's new bench boss has a team to run. And it's something he hasn't done in a while. Krueger obviously impressed Sabres president Kim Pegula after already convincing Botterill that he should be Buffalo's next head coach but now comes the tough part--convincing his team that he, the coaching staff he surrounds himself with and the systems they want to employ are worthy of their trust. 

It's been four years in the muck for the Sabres under two head coaches, both of whom lasted only two years. Stanley Cup-winning head coach Dan Bylsma's aloof nature wore on the players and although they were able to play semi-respectably, locker room discord may have been the predominant reason why he was canned. Rookie head coach Phil Housley replaced him and as the team got worse, the locker room reached perilous depths eventually forcing the trade of No. 2 center Ryan O'Reilly to St. Louis after the Sabres last place finish in 2017-18. Although Housley's second season was better points-wise thanks to a 10-game winning streak and the abysmal prior season, things fell apart, the players seemed to lose interest half way through and he was shown the door as well.

Krueger's well aware of what transpired in Buffalo over the last two seasons. His conversations with Botterill certainly covered that and if he didn't' get a full picture the toll losing had taken on the hockey community, he probably got an earful from the unsuspecting fans he interacted with at different bars while watching the playoffs on TV in Buffalo. One could only imagine what he heard in those conversations, but it seems as if he gained a full appreciation of what the fans were going through and a better idea as to what had been going on throughout Sabreland. 

What kind of head coach is GM Jason Botterill looking for?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-12-2019


When all was said and done at the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery, the Buffalo Sabres ended up dropping two spots and will pick seventh-overall. Although they'll get themselves a very good player at that spot, it may take a year or two for said player to hit the ice at KeyBank Center. Whomever they pick will be heading into a good situation talent-wise in Buffalo with two second-overall picks in Jack Eichel (2015) and Sam Reinhart (2014) plus 2017 eighth-overall pick Casey Mittelstadt up front as well as defenseman Rasmus Dahlin who was selected first-overall in 2018. In addition Buffalo looks poised to add talent player-by-player with prospect pool and development system that has younings in the hopper on track to be in Buffalo beginning next season.

But the big question right now is, who will be coaching the team?

The Sabres will have a new head coach for the third time since their scorched-earth rebuild netted Eichel in 2015. They hired Stanley Cup-winning head coach Dan Bylsma in 2015, but he flamed out for a number of reasons which included reports of him being "aloof" causing a severe disconnect between him and the players. Bylsma spent two seasons in Buffalo and finished with a record of 68-73-23 (.485 win percentage.) The Sabres went with rookie head coach Phil Housley after that and he couldn't handle the situation. After two seasons, a 58-84-22 (.421) record and some dubious negative marks that bordered on historical, Housley was fired.

Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Individual Stats Leaders--Final

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-8-2019


In the 2017 off season and into the 2017-18 season, debate raged in Sabreland over whether they should re-sign left wing Evander Kane, who was a pending free agent that year. Kane was a lightning rod for debate in Buffalo with an on-ice/off-ice dichotomy splitting the Sabres faithful in half. It really didn't matter because in the end the word on the street was that ownership didn't want to re-sign him. Buffalo traded Kane to the San Jose Sharks at the 2018 trade deadline and it was a good enough fit for both player and team for him to sign a 7yr/$49 million extension with the Sharks.

One of the big questions during the debate was how do you replace a player that averaged 24 goals in two full seasons and scored another 20 goals in 61 games before being traded? The view on one side was that scoring wingers were easy to come by while on the other view centered around good players in general being hard to come by. As it turned out, Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was able to make it work by trading for Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, who effectively replaced Kane in the goal-scoring department with the first 40-goal season for a Sabres player in 10 years. At least for one year.

Acquiring good players usually comes with a catch. It might be the price paid in free agency, or in terms of trade pieces, or the cap-hit involved in acquiring said player or it might be unknowns concerning his locker room presence and/or off-ice drama. In Skinner's case it was none of the above, but his catch was that he played last season on an expiring contract on a reasonable $5.7 million cap-hit. 

Lack of results doomed Phil Housley. Botterill now has his butt on the line.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-7-2019


The Buffalo Sabres surprised Sabreland this afternoon when they announced the firing of head coach Phil Housley. It was surprising in that the general manager wasn't thinking about a coaching change back in February when he was asked about it and it's something Sabres owner Terry Pegula reiterated some two weeks ago. They even had a 2:30 time-slot tomorrow for an end-of-season presser with Housley.

However, Buffalo GM Botterill pulled the plug on Housley only two years into his tenure in a decision that he said was exclusively his own. Botterill told the gathered media today that he "had discussions with [the owners]" about his thought process concerning his head coach but that he alone made the decision and went to ownership this morning with his recommendation. "They accepted it,"
he said.

A lot has been said about owners Terry and Kim Pegula lately (this blogger included) but they should be applauded for allowing their general manager, who is their defacto director of hockey operations, to make this decision. It couldn't have been easy as the Pegulas now look to be paying two coaches  (Dan Bylsma and Housley) not to coach next year while also paying their new coach to be behind the bench. In addition to the financial aspect of the situation there's also the perception of how the club is being run. Since Terry bought the team in February, 2011 the Sabres are on their third team president, hired and lost a VP of Hockey Operations in a matter of months, are on their third GM and will be hiring their sixth head coach. Not exactly a track record of success and stability.

But what's a team to do when the results aren't there?

If the Sarbes are going to fire coach Phil Housley, might as well do it now

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-15-2019


Can the Buffalo Sabres rifle through three head coaches in less than four seasons?

Sure. Why not? If it isn't working, it isn't working.

Clearly it's not working for present coach Phil Housley and it looks like he might be the third coach owners Terry and Kim Pegula have gone through since the 2015 off-season. Ted Nolan was brought in for his second tour or duty as Buffalo's head coach on in November, 2013. Nolan was hired by former Hockey Ops President Pat LaFontaine who hired GM Tim Murray a couple months later. After Buffalo's tank seasons of 2013-15, Nolan was canned on April 12, 2015. Murray replaced him with a Stanley Cup winning coach in Dan Bylsma after the team missed out on landing Mike Babcock. Bylsma had a solid first season but lost the room half-way through his second season and was fired, along with Murray on April 20, 2017.

The Sabres brought in Jason Botterill who was a rookie GM in May, 2017 and he in turn hired a rookie head coach in Phil Housley. Buffalo's fortunes took a dramatic tumble as they went from 78 points in Bylsma's last season to 62 points and a last place finish in 2017-18 despite having two players who were results of their tank seasons--second-overall picks Sam Reinhart (2014) and Jack Eichel (2015.) The Sabres added to that haul with 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and after a promising first two months of this season, it looks as if they'll finish only marginally better than last season in the standings.