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.

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."

Of the coaching search, Kane, O'Reilly and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2019


All's quiet on the Buffalo Sabres coaching front right now after Todd McLellan and Alain Vigneault were hired by the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Of the two, only McLellan was a consideration by the Sabres as he came in for an interview while his son was in the NCAA Frozen Four being held in Buffalo. Nothing came of it as reports suggest that the Sabres didn't even make him an offer.

If you're a fan like myself who is interested in seeing Buffalo hire a veteran hockey coach, pickins is mighty slim and none seem very appealing with a list that includes Mike Yeo, Todd Richards and Michel Therrien, among others. Former Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff's name has come up for whatever reason in Sabreland, mostly nostalgia, but it's a ship that's sailed even though I'd pick him over any of the "retreads" available on the coaching market right now.

It's not a good situation for the Sabres be in as they just finished a disastrous two-year stint with a rookie head coach and, barring any unforeseen firings of 2019 NHL playoff coaches, right now that's about the only thing left on the market. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe seems to be the front-runner for a NHL job while back-to-back NCAA Champion head coach Scott Sandelin of Minnesota-Duluth might be the other hot rookie candidate. Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor's name is always mentioned but as of now there have been no reports of the team contacting him about the position, and there's a possibility he may not be interested in the job at this time. Also, Sweden national coach Rickard Gronborg's name is getting hot for a head coaching position in the NHL and the Sabres have been said to be interested in him dating back to last season.

It's quite the pickle general manager Jason Botterill has himself in right now and barring an unforeseen veteran coach hitting the market soon, we're in a situation where we could see another head coach go down the drain over the next few years and in the process the Sabres might be looking for another GM.

Considering the circumstances the Sabres find themselves in right now, the ideal situation in this bloggers eyes would be for any potential rookie head coach, if that's what it comes down to, to be surrounded by veteran assistants who command the respect of the players.

Thoughts on....

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-17-2018


Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is ramping up as he, like his fellow GM's, have a very busy couple of weeks ahead. The NHL is set to announce the 2018-19 salary cap sometime this week and the 2018 NHL Draft takes place Friday and Saturday which is quickly followed by the "interview period" next Sunday as teams may begin talking with unrestricted free agents.

On Monday June 25 teams must tender qualifying offers to their restricted free agents then the following day another "interview period" begins with RFA's being allowed to talk offer sheets with other teams. The buyout window closes on Saturday, June 30 and July 1 heralds the beginning of free agency where unrestricted free agents are free to sign with any team.

While we were busy with the 2018 Mock Draft, Botterill did get things rolling with some moves and some Sabres-related chatter this past week. Time to play a little catch-up with thoughts on Sabres-related moves.


Botterill talks with WGR550's Paul Hamilton on a few subjects.

--The GM implied that there probably wouldn't be any changes to a coaching staff on a last place team that was wretched at times, mostly at home where Botterill was said to take out his frustrations on tables, doors and an unsuspecting taco bar. However, the status quo shouldn't be completely comfortable in their positions as Botterill left some wiggle room.

"Right now we feel comfortable with our guys," he told Hamilton. "We continue to talk with Phil [Housley] from that standpoint, but right now our staff is the same as it was.”

Last month Alexander Nilsson, who covers hockey in Sweden and follows the Sabres tweeted the following, "Sabres is interested in bringing in Sweden men's national team head coach Rikard Grönborg according to Sportbladet. Carolina also interested. Unknown in which capacity. Grönborg has one more year on his contract with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association."

Grönborg just finished coaching Team Sweden to their second consecutive IIHF World Hockey Championship and the dual Swedish/U.S. citizen isn't opposed to moving back to the States.

With Buffalo projected to draft Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall on Friday and with their recent signing of SHL Defenseman of the Year, Lawrence Pilut, it makes sense that they'd be interested in the former St. Cloud State defenseman, but in what capacity?

Changes should be made to coaching staff after the terrible season the team just went through, and with all due respect to assistant coach Chris Hajt, that defense was a mess as he looked way in over his head. But bringing in Grönborg this season as an assistant might put too much pressure on Housley, who's entering his sophomore season as a head coach.

Until Grönborg signs somewhere else, it's a name to keep an eye on, possibly as head coach in Buffalo should Housley not make adequate year over year progress.

--For those looking for the team to buyout ugly contracts, Botterill was pretty firm in his statement to Hamilton. "I don’t see us having any buyouts this year," he said. "Obviously things could always change over the next little bit here, but from our standpoint, just the way some of our contracts are structured, we don’t want to have cap hits beyond this year, so we see it being more beneficial to ride the year out and go from there.”

That means Matt Moulson and his $5 million contract are on the books for one more (probable AHL) season. It also means that Zach Bogosian and the two years remaining on his $5.14 AAV contract are here for at least this season and players like Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson will be playing out the remainder of their deals this season. Barring trades, of course.

And that's the way it should be this year. The Sabres don't need the cap room so why bother?

--Botterill also brought up a name that we thought was a one-and-done in Buffal0--defenseman Victor Antipin.

Last we saw of Antipin on the ice was him literally laying there after being plastered into the boards by Nashville's Scotty Hartnell in a boarding play that went unpunished. Antipin was stretchered off the ice, missed the final four games and it was thought he was back to Mother Russia to play in the KHL.

Not so fast.

"In our conversations with his agent and in our conversations with him," said Botterill, "he wants to play in North America again next year. Because of his past resume, there will always be that option in the KHL, but it’s my understanding, he hasn’t signed there.”

Perhaps he'll have another opportunity, maybe even with the Sabres. Or at least in Rochester. Too bad his one-year free agent deal had an option to head to the KHL should he be sent to the AHL. He needed time to adjust to the North American game. It would be worth taking a shot on him as long as he starts in Rochester.


Hudson Fasching trade

Former GM Tim Murray's first trade for the Sabres (and his first as a general manager) sent defenseman Brayden McNabb, forward Jonathan Parker and two second round picks to the LA Kings for forwards Hudson Fasching and Nic Deslauriers, whom he described as "heavies."

It turned into a bad trade for the Sabres as neither Deslauriers, who was traded to Montreal this past season, nor Fasching, who was just traded to the Arizona Coytoes, are with the club.

McNabb played a top six role for the Kings before he fell down the depth chart and was left unprotected by Los Angeles in the 2017 expansion draft. The Vegas Golden Knights snatched him up and he played top-pairing minutes for the 2018 Stanley Cup runner-up. The two second round picks Buffalo gave up in the trade were the two second rounders the Kings had previously traded to the Sabres for defenseman Robyn Regehr. In 2014 defenseman Alex Lintumiemi was selected 60th-overall in the draft and has spent the last two seasons with the Ontario Reign, LA's AHL affiliate. Defenseman Eric Cernak was selected in 2015 (43rd-overall) by the Kings and his rights were traded to Tampa Bay in the Ben Bishop trade on February 26, 2017.

Fasching was a forward that ended up in the wrong conference at the wrong time. The Kings won the Cup in 2014, their second in three seasons, with strong goaltending and a very Western Conference, heavy-style team and Murray was locked into that style when he made the trade. Also at the time of the trade the Sabres prospect pool was heavier on defense than it was on forwards, so he pulled the trigger.

Regardless of the circumstances and thought process involved, it was a bust for the Sabres. Even though McNabb is usually overrated by many Sabres fans because of the terrible seasons Buffalo has had, because of the hate directed towards Murray and/or maybe because everyone traded away is looked at as upper-echelon simply because Buffalo never can do anything right, they lost this one. Even if the other parts of the trade never make it to the NHL.

Coming back from the 'Yotes in the trade are the rights to BU defenseman Brandon Hickey and unrestricted free agent Mike Sislo.

“We would’ve been qualifying [Fasching]," said Botterill to Hamilton, "but with players like Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, bringing in Danny O’Regan, bringing in Andrew Oglevie, we felt we had an abundance at right wing and we’ve looked to try to bring in more defensemen and continue to work with them.

“We’re very excited about young players such as Brendan Guhle and having players such as Casey Fitzgerald within the organization and we plan to bring more players into that too, so that’s why we signed a player like Lawrence Pilut and with Brandon, we bring in a player whose skating is an asset and we’re looking forward to working with them the next few years.”


Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen signs entry-level deal

The Sabres announced on Thursday that goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen signed his entry-level deal. The 6'4" 198 lb. native of Espoo, Finland was a part of Botterill's first draft class last year and was selected in the second round (54th overall.)

Luukkonen's contract is a three-year deal worth as much as $2.775 million which may slide next year should he stay in Finland, which is likely.

Buffalo has a really thin goalie pool right now with Linus Ullmark (2012, 163rd) getting the call to Buffalo full-time this season and Jonas Johansson (2014, 61st) as the only goalies in the system drafted by the Sabres.

Ideally Buffalo would have a third rounder this year to use on a goalie but they'll need to make due with a fourth-rounder. Perhaps any trade concerning Ryan O'Reilly will include an additional second or third rounder that they can use to add a goaltender to the system.


Ryan O'Reilly

Yup, it wouldn't be a blog with out a ROR mention.

The Montreal Canadiens, who seem to be the hottest destination for the top-six center and they made a trade this week sending Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. It's a trade that really has nothing to do with O'Reilly as the Canadiens still need a top center, but it was worth mentioning.

Domi scored nine goals last season for the 'Yotes, four of them empty netters. For a little perspective, Girgensons had seven goals, zero empty-netters.



Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. I'm very thankful for my children who are the best a father could hope for.

Ode to Tim Murray

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-22-2017


I'm going miss Tim Murray, especially his candor when addressing the media and some of the off-beat language he used when making his point. I'm also of the opinion his tenure was cut a bit short when ownership decided to clean house.

One of things most in the Buffalo media talked about after the news of his firing hit was Murray's relative honesty when asked a question.  Even if he said he didn't want to address something, he'd still dance around a bit before giving a little insight into where his head was at on the subject. And the colorful words Murray used at times was refreshing especially with the parade of droll GM's the Buffalo sports community was subject to in both hockey and football dating back to the last century. Like when he talked with owner Terry Pegula about the trade for Evander Kane, who wasn't exactly a choir-boy off-ice. Pegula asked him about the move and Murray said that "he answered as best he could.

"It's not all unicorns and rainbows and jujus," said Murray of Kane and his off-ice issues, "I can tell you the best of the very best players have warts."

If you talk to any old timer, the stuff that goes on today is mere child's play compared to what athletes did decades ago. It's a different era and a different world. Even locker room talk and the antics that went on are now taboo and subject to intense scrutiny. When Murray talked of an incident post-game in February when his franchise center Jack Eichel verbalized his dismay with the home crowd's booing of the team. Murray's response, "[Eichel] certainly won't get his pee pee slapped by me for being a little more outspoken," a figurative expression with literal roots dating back to a different era.

That's all well and good for us outside the rink as within Murray's wry smile there seemed to be a precocious, child-like throw-back to the irreverence of days gone by. Hell, even the great Punch Imlach, the Sabres first coach and GM, had those qualities, going so far as to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a fictitious Japanese hockey player from the Tokyo Katanas (Japanese for sword,) in the 11th round of the 1974 NHL Draft, as a way of voicing his displeasure with the slow, lengthy draft process.

But the product on the ice is what matters and instead of Murray's Sabres taking a step forward this season, they were beginning to spiral out of control. Discord and disconnect ruled the roost as his team went from 81 points in 2015-16 to 78 points last season. There was plenty of blame to be thrown around from players to coaches and Murray was on the hook for the team he assembled.

Murray stormed onto the scene in Buffalo with brazen blockbusters in his first year-and-a-half of his rather short stint as a first-time GM. He finished the work of former GM Darcy Regier when he traded goalie Ryan Miller to St. Louis in February, 2014 less that two months into his tenure and lead the franchise through an ownership approved "rebuild" that completely gutted the organization of talent. Bolstered by a ton of draft picks and prospects from his predecessor Murray elected to speed up the rebuild by acquiring young-vets.

There were two unhappy young-vets available whom Murray traded for, the aforementioned Kane and Ryan O'Reilly. Murray was able to land both as the primary pieces of blockbuster trades but used a boatload of draft picks and prospects to do so. Murray got himself two good players in Kane and O'Reilly and he furthered his young-vet theory by trading for goaltender Robin Lehner at the rather steep price of a first-round pick in 2015.

The Lehner deal was consummated with his former Ottawa Senators team whose GM was his uncle, Bryan Murray. Whether or not there was something else in the works may be up for discussion, but we'll never know as Bryan Murray stepped down from his GM position in April, 2016. But in the world of the NHL there are always backroom deals as Tim Murray mentioned when it comes to the upcoming expansion draft and the new Las Vegas Knights team.

While on WGR550 radio Murray was rather honest when talking about how he's approaching the upcoming expansion draft and how he may have already done a favor for new Knights GM George McPhee who at the time was GM for the Washington Capitals. "I’ve had a conversation or two with George on who I wouldn’t like to lose (in the upcoming expansion draft) and how we can make that happen. Maybe I’ve done a deal with George in the past that was considered somewhat of a favor. Maybe I’ve had a conversation with him reminding him of that, and he remembered the wordage of that deal word-for-word, which I was very happy to hear."

The prevailing theme is that Murray's rebuild with young-vets was flawed. With the set-back his team went through and his firing this week, old clichés are being tossed around with the emphasis upon rushing things.

Murray may have been on the precipice of turning things around. He knew the teams flaws, especially on defense where another of his trades, the one for Dmitry Kulikov, blew up in his face, and he may have had a plan to fix it, but he didn't say what the Pegula's wanted to hear when he met them for the end-of-season meetings.

I'd like to have seen him around for one more season tp see how he addressed the flaws throughout the hockey department from Buffalo to the Rochester Americans to the now defunct Elmira Jackals formerly of the ECHL. He has some good talent coming up to Buffalo and will also have more talent heading to Rochester for their rookie seasons. During the next three seasons we'll be seeing Murray's draft picks come through the ranks as they continue their developmental process.

Where it all leads is up in the air but if the Pegulas move takes this team forward, good for them and good for those of us in Sabreland. That said, I'm going to miss Murray. He may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but for those who got him and how he approached things, it was a pretty cool ride.

Pegula rolls solo in important press conference

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-21-2017


I highly doubt anyone thought earlier today that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula would roll solo with his most important presser since buying the team six years ago. Thanks to Sabres TV we saw Pegula stand at the podium by himself answering questions about the present, future and, unfortunately, an unpleasant past.

Everyone who's ever watched a Terry Pegula presser knows how awkward he is in front of the microphone. He'd much rather be doing other things or answering questions about the positives he and Pegula Sports and Entertainment have done like HARBORCENTER and Canalside. But after firing both his general manager and head coach yesterday this was a time for him to take ownership of his team.

It was a ballsy move considering the many questions surrounding the state of an obviously flawed franchise, but in his opening statement he stood at the podium stating that "we" as an organization weren't happy with our season and, very humbly I might add, said that "accountability starts with me."

The theme of his approach going forward will start with three words that he repeated throughout, "discipline, structure and communication" a theme that Pegula and his wife Kim decided upon after meeting with former GM Tim Murray and former head coach Dan Bylsma. Later in the rather brief presser he added a fourth, "character."

After watching the Sabres play this season, and also following them in the media, it's not surprising that those three words would be the foundation moving forward. Lack of discipline on the ice reared it's head in the many times they failed to buy-in while off the ice it manifested itself in the Sam Reinhart saga when he was benched after breaking a recently installed zero-tolerance policy on tardiness late in the season. This Buffalo team was a mess with structure out the window and an obvious lack of communication between coach and players and more than likely between GM and owner.

When Pegula mentioned character, one couldn't help but think about Evander Kane's off-ice issues, said to be severely frowned upon by Kim Pegula. Another event was the Ryan O'Reilly bout with a Tim Horton's wall two summers ago. And one couldn't help but think that as owner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills the bouts with stupidity that some of his football players had must have come to the fore in the addition of character. Murray said of Kane that he had warts, and that some of the best players of all time had warts, but Pegula just busted out the Compound W.

After a rather humble opening statement Pegula was thrown into the fire by a question about Jack Eichel and how much his discontent played into the firing of Bylsma, as well as Murray. The transition from defense to offense began as he quoted Eichel's agent Peter Fish, "I don't know where those stories come from. It's ridiculous. Pegula called it a "complete fabrication" and "not a true story."

Later in the Q&A Pegula would get on the offensive again when asked if the rumors of talking to former LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi before firing Murray. "We didn't talk to anybody," he said flatly, "pure fabrication.

"Put that in the 'Jack demanded his coach be fired' category."

All-in-all not much was said about the immediate future of the franchise save for head amateur scout Jeff Crisp handling the amateur side of things with "several people" heading the pro side. Pegula said that their goal is "to build a stronger organization top to bottom" but would not reveal if he's ready to put a Hockey Ops person in between him and the GM. A hint may have come when he answered with a definitive "no" when asked about a direct link between GM and ownership with no go-between.

We haven't seen Pegula at a Sabres presser for over three years and a lot has transpired. The hiring process of both Murray and Bylsma were done with him outside of the loop and it's something he said he regretted with the results being a second season outside of the playoffs after what he termed the Sabres "rebuild."

One reporter had a different review of the rebuild pointing to fans and media alike calling it a tank. Pegula was asked about his "point on character" and if he felt the organization was damaged in that respect from that "flawed plan, a plan that authorized and essentially hoped for losing as a way of building."

"I don't want to talk about the past," began Pegula, "but a lot of teams go through rebuilds..." The reporter mentioned that it was true, but not a lot hope to lose. "Hope to lose? We don't hope to lose," responded Pegula as he brought the past to the present.

The team tanked and perhaps they're reaping what they've sown. Some will let it go, while others while carry it to the grave.

Buffalo is in a rough spot right now with no GM to guide this team through the expansion draft, NHL Draft or free agency, not to mention the glut of 20 free agent contracts to decide upon as well as an extension for Eichel and a decision on whether or not to move forward with Kane.

Pegula is taking a methodical approach, which is good. He'll have the amateur draft covered with Crisp and even possibly former head scout and assistant GM Kevin Devine. He has Mark Jakubowski as his cap-guy and an AGM who handled much of the contract negotiations and he may tap into a trusted internal guy like Kevyn Adams for some help on the pro side.

Gotta give Pegula a lot of credit for standing up there solo in a position he's not very comfortable with, but then again, he owed it to Sabreland, as this mess is his.

Boom! Both Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma fired. Opportunity knocks

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-20-2017


It's been a rather contentious off-season for fans of the Buffalo Sabres as a very disappointing season turned to question marks in April as the NHL playoffs march on. Fans took sides when it came to who was most responsible for the step backwards the Sabres had taken this season with one side saying GM Tim Murray put together a poor roster and the other side saying the head coach Dan Bylsma couldn't figure out how to make things work on the ice.

Well, the owners of the Buffalo Sabres made it pretty clear today that they weren't happy at all with what transpired and fired both Murray and Bylsma. Here's the statement from the Pegulas:

"After reviewing the past season and looking at the future of our organization, Kim and I have decided to relieve General Manager Tim Murray and Head Coach Dan Bylsma of their duties. We want to thank Tim and Dan for their hard work and efforts that they have put in during their tenures with the club. We wish them luck. We have begun the process to fill these positions immediately."

Word of the firing came when in the early part of an interview I was having with long-time Rochester Americans announcer, Don Stevens, and to show just how split Sabreland was on responsibility for the Sabres poor season, he mentioned one, yet I was thinking the other. Neither of us, however, thought that both Murray and Bylsma would be shown the door as I assume most in Sabreland didn't think this bombshell was coming.

The national media has already begun jumping on the move . Pierre LeBrun tweeted, "Constant turmoil with the Bills and Sabres. The passionate fans of Western New York deserve so much better."

It's a shot at ownership and I'm sure there will be plenty more. Some of the things that will be pointed our are the Bills 17-year playoff drought, even though the Pegula's have owned the team for only two of those seasons as well as the Sabres six-year playoff drought, all of them under the Pegulas with two of those seasons being devoted to emptying the roster for a scorched-earth rebuild. We'll also hear a lot about how they fired the Bills Rex Ryan after two seasons with three years left on his contract and that of Bylsma, who has the exact same scenario.

And while talking about paying former coaches not to coach for them, we can add in Murray who just signed a three year contract extension which kicks in this off-season.

That being said, the Pegulas should be questioned as to how they structured the Sabres post-tank years especially in light of what the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to accomplish this season.

The Leafs went into their rebuild and began by hiring Hall of Fame player Brendan Shanahan as President and Alternate governor. According to the Sabres Media guide Buffalo's President and Alternate governor is Russ Brandon, a marketing guru who's spent the last 20 years with the Buffalo Bills, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2008 when he took charge of day-to-day football operations. The Bills have had seven coaches during that time and had a record above .500 only once.

Sabres legend and Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine was with the organization in the role of Vice President but parted ways with the Sabres not long after Murray was hired as general manager. No reason has ever been given for the split and it left a first time GM in charge of the entire hockey department.

The Leafs also have another Hall-of-Famer in GM Lou Lamoriello and an almost sure-fire Hall-of-Famer in head coach Mike Babcock, whom the Sabres courted but missed out upon. The Sabres had a head coach with one Stanley Cup but plenty of question marks as to how he got that Cup.

That the structure problem that probably lead to dysfunction and a season of disconnects.

There were a lot of reasons why the season went off the tracks and lack of depth certainly contributed to it. Murray built a roster that was pretty solid up front but when injuries hit, the replacements weren't quite ready. Lack of depth was a problem that stretched down to the AHL. And Murray's defense was in shambles all season, mainly because of injury but also in large part because they didn't have enough quality.

From the coaching ranks we had a coach that apparently wasn't on the same page as the team's star player--Jack Eichel. That disconnect also lead to reported discord between the veteran players and the younger ones.

It's not surprising that Bylsma was fired as coaches are usually first to go, especially when there's reported friction between him and the face of the franchise. But Murray was a real surprise.

Murray came into Buffalo with a ton of picks and potential in his arsenal and proceeded to come out with guns ablazin' as blockbuster trades became the norm. He took a lot of heat for the Tyler Myers/Evander Kane trade even though Kane looks to be the best player in the deal. That said, he also was the one that had off-ice issues which assuredly didn't go unnoticed by the Pegulas.

The Ryan O'Reilly trade was another big one with the Sabres getting one of the top two-way players in the league. Unfortunately Murray had to give up some prime prospects including a player in J.T. Compher, who may end up being O'Reilly 2.0, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov, a young player who had some off-ice problems but one who also played in a top-four role this past season.

Then there was the trade for goalie Robin Lehner. Murray gave up a 2015 first round pick for Lehner, a source of consternation from many in Sabreland as you don't usually give up a first-rounder for a goalie unless he's had some time to establish himself. Lehner was injured his first season in Buffalo and compiled a strong 2016-17, but even with solid numbers, many are not convinced he's a top-flight No. 1 goalie.

Put it all together and the Pegulas put an end to the dysfunction with in the hockey department. The process now is all about building a proper one although we're unsure of where they want to begin. Hopefully it's with a Vice President of Hockey Operations who will define what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre as throughout the Pegula's ownership, we're not really sure what they want to be.

The Sabres have a future superstar in Jack Eichel at center and have a strong No. 2 in O'Reilly. They have a top-pairing d-man in Rasmus Ristolainen and a good number of role players spread throughout the lineup. If Lehner isn't the No. 1 goalie of the future, Linus Ullmark is in the hopper having made great strides in Rochester this past season after playing real strong as a rookie during Lehners injury.

However, the Sabres also have a lot of dead weight to move and will need to make decisions on 20 free agents this off-season and should also be looking to extend Eichel beyond next season. The draft is coming up and the Las Vegas Knights expansion draft is before that meaning they'll need to formulate their protected list.

Today's news is a bombshell, but with all that said, it's an opportunity for the Pegulas to get it right beginning with the front office. If they don't, we'll just be going through this again.

As the Sabres turn--a Disco Dan/Jack Flash conundrum?

Published by bockeybuzz.com, 4-19-2017


The old adage in Hollywood is "there's no such thing as bad press." Well, the Buffalo Sabres are certainly going to test that. It wasn't bad enough that they were chasited relentlessly for "the tank," and that this year their season went caput while two contemporary teams made the playoffs, now the team needs to deal with internal issues between a marquis player and the coach. Oh, and the backdrop has the Sabres missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season while the NHL's Buffalo Bills just finished a 17th season outside the playoffs.

This may be a job for Sean Spicer.

Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray scheduled to meet with ownership today, there's a question as to what kind of remarks he'll be packing in his briefcase when he opens it up for Terry and Kim Pegula. Murray finished his end-of-season interviews with the players and hit the podium for the presser with question marks all over the place. He began by taking full responsibility for what he called "a very disappointing season" but distributed some of the blame to coaches and players. It was the second season Buffalo missed the playoffs with this core group of players and the second with coach Dan Bylsma on the bench.

Bylsma had the team Murray built at his disposal and finished with a worse record than the previous season. A shored up forward ranks and a full season of health from goaltender Robin Lehner wasn't enough to offset a weak defense, undermanned bottom-six and a number of long-term injuries to key players. Among the injured was franchise center Jack Eichel who missed the first 21 games of the 2016-17 season. However, the biggest problem may have had less to do with the above and more to do with rumors that Bylsma lost control of the room somewhere along the way.

There had been reports of a disconnect between players and coach in Buffalo for a number of months culminating with a report from WGR550 radio today that Eichel won't sign a contract extension if Bylsma is retained as head coach. From WGR's Paul Hamilton, "Inside sources have told me that Eichel has no desire to sign a contract extension this summer if Bylsma remains the coach."

Eichel was drafted second-overall in 2015 after the Sabres and is the future of the franchise. He was the last player Murray talked with during last week's exit interviews and when the GM talked to the press a few hours later, he never gave an endorsement of Bylsma as the head coach moving forward. "He's my coach today," said Murray at the time before qualifying it later saying that things could change.

That change could be as early as today after Murray is finished meeting with the Pegula's.

Peter Fish, Eichel's agent, called the report "ridiculous" via John Vogl of the Buffalo News. “I don’t know where anyone is getting these reports, but they are ridiculous in a word,” Fish told Vogl. “Jack, he left Buffalo, he thought he had a real good meeting with coach Bylsma and a real good meeting with Murray. When he got home to Boston, he was genuinely excited with the thoughts that maybe they’re just a few players away from getting into the playoffs."

Not being in the playoffs might be a particular thorn in Eichel's side this season as he watches his contemporaries--Connor McDavid (2015, first-overall, EDM) and Auston Matthews (2016, first-overall, TOR)--battling it out in the post-season for the first time in their careers. The 20 yr. old Eichel has a competitive spirit and hatred to lose not seen in Buffalo since "The Dominator," Dominik Hasek ruled the crease, the last time the Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999.

"He's an extremely, extremely, competitive kid who hates to lose, he just hates it," Fish said. "He's just sitting there at the podium after a long season, World Cup, ankle injury, he missed the playoffs and he's got microphones in his face. Yes, his frustration level is there, but it's his frustration. He didn't get the team to the playoffs and he's frustrated and he wants to do better."

For some reason known only to those inside of the locker room, supposedly Eichel and a band of younger players tuned Bylsma out at some point. Veteran players were more apt to publicly say that they're professionals and they showed it on the ice by strictly adhering to Bylsma's system, but the big knock against Bylsma being rumored was that his system was too rigid and that his devotion to X's and O's created a disconnect that didn't resonate with the younger players, especially a talent like Eichel.

It's the second time that this has happened in Bylsma's two coaching stints.

Bylsma took over the Pittsburgh Penguins mid-season in 2009 and coached the team to the Stanley Cup that season. From thence came a decline and a gradual disconnect between Bylsma and his star players.

Here's what Chris Peters of cbssport.com wrote and thanks to our very own I'm That Guy, who posted the link and the following quote in the last thread:

"There are a lot of reports and rumors swirling that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma’s days with the club are numbered and will get his walking papers any day now. One of the reasons, as reported by Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was that there was a disconnect between the team and its head coach, most notably between captain Sidney Crosby and Bylsma.

More from Rossi:

Crosby and Malkin felt they needed one another this season when they grew frustrated with Bylsma, the sources said.

Crosby and Malkin grew disenchanted with perceived harsh criticism they received from Bylsma during meetings, the sources said. They and other veteran players were unhappy with Bylsma's numerous meetings and long practices and the decreasing sense of fun within the Penguins' environment, the sources said.

Ownership believed Bylsma lost the dressing room this season, specifically the support of Crosby and Malkin, the sources said."

About the only thing missing from recent reports of disconnect in Buffalo was the "sense of fun" part. But anyone who watched this team through the last few months of the season could tell that this group of players lumbered through games often times with minimal passion.

Right now the Sabres have themselves a soap opera on their hands and it's sure to get noticed throughout the hockey world. Is it bad press? We shall see as there's a number of ways one could look at the situation.

Simply put, if the Sabres have any doubts about where this team will end up with Bylsma in charge, they need to pull the plug now. Murray is probably of the same thought as a disenchanted face of the franchise and/or a slow start to next season putting them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs again will probably mean a pink slip heading his way.

These are the days of our lives in Sabreland.

On coaches, the Sabres and the Leafs

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2017


Bucky Gleason has a very cool article in the Buffalo News today about the coaching carousel in the NHL which, he writes, is enough to make one's head spin. With Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma's status up in the air as he awaits the result of a GM/Ownership meeting this week, there is the possibility that the Sabres will have yet another coaching change, the fourth one since Lindy Ruff was fired. Ruff's tenure lasted just about 17 seasons and at the time of his firing was a part of the longest tenured head coach/GM tandem in the NHL.

But Ruff and GM Darcy Regier's long-time tenure is the anomaly in a league where coaches are hired to be fired, as the old adage goes. Professional sports is about immediacy and hockey is no different these days.

Gleason sets the ball rolling by starting with present St. Louis head coach Mike Yeo and does a Chronicles-like unwinding of the many coaches hired and fired. It's a pretty noble piece that moves well and in the end the simple conclusion is that there are three possibilities that preclude a coach being fired: "A) the general manager needed a scapegoat for a lousy roster he assembled because, heaven forbid, it's the GM's fault; B) the coach's message grew stale; C) players underachieved."

He concludes with "the most common factor is D) All of the above," which seems to be where Bylsma and the Sabres are at this point.

GM Tim Murray's 2016-17 team was flawed, maybe fatally although maybe not because of injuries. That's what he and owners Terry and Kim Pegula will be discussing when they meet in Boca Raton, FL this week to discuss the season. We also know that there was a disconnect between Bylsma and his players. How long this disconnect existed is up for debate but it could go back to the middle of December when disturbing trends on a team getting healthy again were starting to make their way into the picture.

And, no doubt, there were players that underachieved, most notably on defense and in the bottom-six. However, the top-six performed very well, at least statistically. Even Sam Reinhart surpassed his rookie output this season.

Something just wasn't right this season for Buffalo which brings it all back on the coach.

Gleason uses Buffalo captain Brian Gionta as a way go hoist some of the blame on the players. The supposed disconnect between Bylsma and the players had a lot to do with the coaches system, to which Gionta said two months ago that coaching systems didn't vary all that much in the NHL. Gleason writes, " It was the 15-year veteran's way of saying most teams approach the game in similar fashion and, therefore, his younger teammates and others needed to stop whining about Dan Bylsma," then concludes, "there are no secrets in the NHL. Hockey always has been, and forever shall be, an effort sport."

All of that is true, and motivating players to play their hardest in an "effort sport" apparently isn't one of Bylsma's strong points, at least with this team.

Former head coach Ted Nolan was a supreme motivator who employed (at most) basic X's and O's principles while touting the value of hard work, effort and accountability. His teams almost always overachieved yet he was always ridiculed as a dinosaur with no value in the modern NHL.

Yet, as Sabres fans watch the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth year in a row, it's not hard imagining a Nolan-coached team easily eclipsing the 78-point total that Bylsma's system-oriented team gathered.

And even if they didn't, there's one thing we Sabres fans could be pretty sure of.

When the Sabres met the Leafs for the final time this season at KeyBank Center with Toronto battling for a playoff spot and Buffalo in the role of spoiler, I'd almost bet the farm that a Nolan-coached team wouldn't have laid the colossal egg this team did in the embarrassment of that game. He'd have reveled in that playoff-like atmosphere.


*****

Speaking of that game.

Toronto eeked into the playoffs by one point. Buffalo had played a highly motivated game against the Leafs 10 days prior at KeyBank and totally manhandled them 5-2. Beating the Leafs again may have put them on the ropes to where they'd have missed out on the playoffs.

It didn't happen and much to the dismay of many a Buffalo sports fan, not only is Toronto in the playoffs, but they're leading the top-seed Washington Capitals 2-1 in the series. If a Sabres fan wants to beat his or her head every time they watch the Leafs this post season, they should do so against a 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres team picture.


*****

I get the consternation of Toronto in the playoff and as a Sabres fan I will always wish them to lose, expecting the same in return.

But when the anguish of a distraught fan comes in the form of "a little rant of 20+ reasons the Leafs have me bitter and salty," perhaps we're taking it a little too far.

When WGR550 morning host Jeremy White began is rant, I and every other Sabres fan can relate, but on the other hand, I get a kick out of watching Leaf Nation celebrate every goal as if it was the Stanley Cup winner.

The Leafs are a fun team to watch and it's good for the NHL as a whole that they're relevant again. Does it hurt a bit? Yeah, it does. Do I want to slit my wrists? Far from it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Toronto was the epitome of health this season and I'd bet the house that if Auston Matthews was injured for 21 games to start the season like Jack Eichel was, they wouldn't be in the playoffs. In fact if they also lost William Nylander and Mitch Marner like Buffalo lost Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly, they'd probably not be in the playoffs.

Everything went perfect for the Leafs this season and more power to them. And it's great for the NHL that in it's 100th Anniversary season, Toronto is back in the playoffs.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Would Murray gamble on a first-time coach with his job on the line?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-14-2017


Tim Murray's end of season presser was hardly vote of confidence for his head coach after a "very disappointing" Buffalo Sabres season, but then again, he said nothing of moving on from Dan Bylsma either. Murray even said that he "hadn't had any thoughts of firing him" as well. Yet the door was left open as Murray still has a meeting with ownership next week.

"He's the coach today," said Murray of Bylsma, "like I'm the GM today. There's going to be a review top to bottom.

"The reason I always say today is that something could happen tomorrow."

Murray has been general manager since January, 2014 which is a little over three seasons. He began his tenure with the continued tear-down of the previous roster, and drafted forward Sam Reinhart second-overall in his first-ever draft as GM. He's on his second head coach and has reworked his lineup somewhat to his liking. There have been failures along the way and places where he could have done better with the bottom line being, his team regressed this season.

When he goes in with his "book full of notes" to discuss this past season, Murray will make his case to ownership. No doubt he'll point to injuries that felled Jack Eichel for the first 21 games as well as a host of others, but owner Terry Pegula will probably focus upon the stumbling that took place after Eichel, and Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly were back in the lineup for the last five or so months of the season.

That's where Bylsma comes into play.

The Sabres fell apart post bye week but there were cracks and fissures noticeable before that. Those cracks stemmed from a disconnect between some players and the coaching staff--between the players abilities on the ice and the rigid system Bylsma employed. Murray framed the disconnect this way, "I think that maybe [the coaches] are stuck in that (video) room and maybe they could put a coffee in their hand once in a while and do two hours of video instead of three and get out and get to know our players and talk to our players.

"It's about coaching individuals a little more and coaching systems a little less."

At his own end of season presser, Bylsma sais there wasn't a disconnect, but Murray had just finished player exit interviews and it would seem as if the players thought there was a chasm between themselves and the coaching staff lead by Bylsma. Amongst the most visibly irritated at the way things were going during the season was Eichel. As the future of this franchise his words hold a lot of clout with upper management and ownership and one might assume that the disconnect between him and Bylsma that we saw on the ice and that was mentioned in the media during the latter stages of the season likely came out during his exit interview. Eichel, by the way, was the last of Murray's player interviews and was said to be held just before the GM's presser on Wednesday.

There was talk in Pittsburgh that Bylsma lost the room before he was fired and it looked as if he'd lost the room in Buffalo less than two years into his tenure. Perhaps the rigid way he coaches is just the way he is which means if he's still around next season, any ill will between players and coach may will eventually manifest itself in losing ways. Bylsma has three years left on his contract and when Murray said "he's our coach today," perhaps the prevailing thought is that he'll need to get the OK from ownership that they're willing to eat the last three years before he gives Bylsma the pink slip.

If the team has serious reservations about whether Bylsma is the right man for the job, it's better if they fire him now. Waiting until the season begins severely limits the coaching pool from which to draw from. Just this week, a prime candidate in Gerard Gallant was just snatched up by the expansion Las Vegas Knights.

Gallant was a veteran coach, some would say retread, on the market and there remains another one who might be of interest to the Sabres--former Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter.

Sutter finished his six-year run in LA with two Stanley Cups wins with the Kings including their first-ever in 2012. He has a long history of coaching that dates back to the  1992-93 season and his teams missed the playoffs only three times in his 18 years behind the bench.

When Murray took over the Sabres it seemed as if he was modeling his build after the Sutter-coached Kings as he used the term "heavy" on more than one occasion. However the game has changed and it's probably what caused Sutter and his GM Dean Lombardi, to get canned. After struggling for two seasons, Murray himself is devoting more of his focus to "speed and transition" which may leave Sutter out of the equation.

Regardless of NHL styles, hiring a veteran coach would be safe for Murray. Perhaps the ideal one would have been Gallant who guided a young, up-and-coming Florida Panthers team to a 103 points and a division crown two years ago. With him gone, as well as another well known coaching retread in Ken Hitchcock, the last of the big-name vets that might be appealing to Buffalo would be Sutter.

Then again, there are two young coaches that will in the very least get long looks from teams with coaching vacancies.

Former Sabre and NHL Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley has been working his way up the coaching ladder having been hired as a Nashville Predators assistant after he coached Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia. The captain of that USA team was Buffalo Sabers defenseman, Jake McCabe. From Preds GM David Poile, "Phil brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff. He was one of the most talented offensive defensemen to play in the NHL, and he has worked extensively with young players during his coaching career. He will continue to focus his efforts on our young defensemen and assisting on the power play."
At the NCAA level is up and coming Denver University head coach Jim Montgomery who just lead the Pioneers to the 2017 NCAA championship. Montgomery team was the epitome of speed and transition and will be a hot commodity in an NHL that is all about speed and transition these days. Montgomery also has a bit of a Buffalo connection as he coached Zemgus Girgensons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010-12.

Montgomery has also been working his way up the ladder. He started as an assistant at Notre Dame in 2005-06 and went to RPI for four seasons as an assistant. After three years in the USHL he was hired by Denver and since taking over the head coaching position in 2013, his Pioneers are sporting back-to-back Frozen Four appearances with a Championship this year.

Should Bylsma get fired, Murray will have a tough decision to make. Were he in this position last year he'd have a bit more wiggle room as his team was still feeling the effects of the "tank years." However, should Murray make a change, the focus would be squarely on him and there'd be a tremendous amount of pressure placed on a rookie head coach as Murray is headed into his fourth season as GM with the club.

Housley or Montgomery, or even Boston University's David Quinn, might be well worth it but it might take a couple of years for them to establish themselves. Sutter, on the other hand, would have the best chance for short-term success. Hiring Sutter and having him succeed at getting the team to the playoffs may end up saving Murray's job.

On the other hand, if Murray hired a rookie head coach, he may end up falling on the sword in the event of another team failure.

This is all speculation at this point as Bylsma's still the head coach but in the event of change, one would hope that Murray keeps the best interests of the organization in mind.

Sabres GM Tim Murray to face a lot of questions after a lost season

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-12-2017


On day when the 2017 NHL playoffs begin,it would have been much easier for Buffalo GM Tim Murray to answer what it felt like to break a five-year playoff drought and face the Washington Capitals in the first round. Or to describe the progress his team had made while being in the hunt late in the season. But neither scenario came true this season as the Sabres finished with 78 points, three fewer than the previous season, and were out of the playoff picture in early March.

Murray will be facing a multitude of tough questions from the media today beginning with his decision on head coach Dan Bylsma.

Perhaps there's no decision to be made in Murray's eyes as Bylsma guided this team through a multitude of key injuries with a defense-corps that was generally panned league-wide . Injuries were an excuse up to a certain point but after most of the team returned to health, they could not get the job done. From that point forward, was it the coach or the construct that lead to the Sabres' demise?

Bylsma has three more years left on his five-year contact and his team followed a season of strong progress with a giant egg this year. From a construct perspective, his defense was a huge weakness as they could not consistently do what either the team needed or what his system was predicated upon. Then again, a seeming lack of adaptability on Bylsma's part when the team was near full health lead to a reported disconnect between some players and the coach.

Despite what Bylsma said at his end-of-season presser, something was amiss and it centered around 20 yr. old Jack Eichel and his reported disconnect with Bylsma's system. Eichel is the franchise player this team spent two years in the gutter for and has shown that he should be in the same conversation as young studs Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.

It will be interesting to hear how Murray approaches this aspect of the conversation and whether or not he still believes Bylsma and his system are right for his team and whether or not it will have an adverse effect on his franchise player.

Murray himself is squarely in focus as a supposedly "tough to play against" team he constructed (or wanted to construct) turned out to be paper tigers. When the heat was turned up this edition of the Sabres turned to mush. All may have been forgiven had they made progress this season, but they regressed and one would think that owner Terry Pegula is uneasy with what transpired with the team Murray built.

If Murray decides to retain Bylsma, he'll be passing up the opportunity to land a veteran coach like Daryl Sutter who won two Stanley Cups with the LA Kings or Gerard Gallant who guided a young Florida Panthers team to a 103 point season and an Atlantic Division crown last season. They may also miss out on a young, up-and-coming coach in former Sabres defenseman Phil Houlsley who's been working his way up the coaching ladder for years.

Keeping Bylsma represents a huge leap of faith by Murray and failure may cost him is job.

Also on tap is the status of left-winger Evander Kane.

We all know the story of Kane's off-ice antics and his on-ice attributes. Kane has one more season on his contract and lead the team with 28 goals, most of them 5v5 which was a huge weakness on the team. Murray has already said that Eichel and Sam Reinhart, who have one more left on their entry-level deals, are on tap first and that Kane would be addressed later.

Another contract to discuss is that of goalie Robin Lehner whom Murray traded a first round pick for. Lehner had a solid season and looks to be a good No. 1 goalie in this league. Lehner had the numbers, and presumably still has the confidence of his GM, but he had his moments, especially in the shootout where he failed to stop a single shot in eight attempts.

The contract with Lehner may have huge implications when addressing the Cal Petersen situation. Petersen was a standout goalie through three seasons at Notre Dame and may turn pro. Should he decide to, the Sabres have until June 1 to sign him, according to Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com, or he'll become a free agent. How he fits into Buffalo's plans will be the key talking point in any Petersen/Sabres talks.

There's Kyle Okposo's health, the expansion draft and the NHL Entry Draft to address as well as the team's approach to free agency, but most of the questions should center around what happened and who's to blame. If Bylsma's still the coach after Murray's opening statement, then we'll have a pretty good indication that the players will bear most of the responsibility in Murray's eyes. If not, then old adages like "it's easier to fire the coach instead of trading players" and "coaches are hired to be fired" will come into play.

Murray's presser is scheduled for 2 pm today. Should be interesting.

Requiem for a season of disconnects

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-11-2017



To put it the only way we can and should, the 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres season was a bust as injuries and inconsistencies sent the team and it's fan base on a roller coaster of manic ups and downs with the Sabres finishing last in the division. Buffalo missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season and the 78 points they managed fell short of their 81 points total from previous season. No one in this organization from owner Terry Pegula on down should be anywhere close to happy with what transpired and none should skirt responsibility either.

In retrospect, this may have been a lost season from the get-go as the newly christened World Cup of Hockey got things going in the wrong direction in Buffalo. The whole idea of a Olympic-style tournament sounded like a good idea with players playing for their countries, but having it during NHL training camps may not have been the best thing for a player like newly acquired defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.

Kulikov spent his time playing for Team Russia instead of being in Buffalo acclimating to his new surroundings. After Russia was eliminated from the tournament Kulikov finally hit the ice for his first practice as a Sabre later in September. He made his Sabres debut on September 29 and during the game he was checked into an open bench door. He injured his tailbone and back and although he tried to play through the injury, it basically derailed his season as Kulikov was either trying to nurse it back to health on the fly or missed games.

The injury to Kulikov had an impact on the defense corps but what happened to Jack Eichel the day before the season opener dealt a blow to Buffalo's offense. Eichel's high-ankle sprain kept him out of the lineup for the first 21 games of the season and to keep with the theme of key players going down, left-winger Evander Kane broke four ribs in the season opener and was lost for 11 games. Added into that injury was an ailing Ryan O'Reilly, who was suffering from abdominal issues as a result of playing in from the WCoH. Those injuries crippled the offense as vets and youngsters alike failed to adequately fill the void.

On defense, injuries to Kulikov, Zach Bogosian and Josh Gorges created openings that were partially filled by depth defensemen called up to Rochester as well as an emergency call-up for Canadian junior defenseman Brendan Guhle for three games in November.

In all the injuries were many and the lack of depth forced head coach Dan  Bylsma to change his approach early in the season as he employed a tight defensive system at the expense of offense. At one point in November, the Sabres were averaging under 1.70 goals/game yet somehow managed to stay around the .500 point mark through those games.

With the return of Eichel for the last game of November, the Sabres seemed to find their offensive legs in a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators. The run-and-gun game that night was fun to watch for fans but gave the coaches ulcers as both teams produced scoring opportunities seemingly at will.

That game seemed to be a harbinger of things to come as players would struggle with their natural instinct to play shinny hockey in seeming opposition to Bylsma's systematic approach to the game. To the uninitiated Bylsma's system seemed too rigid a system for the speed and talent he had to work with, especially with a player like Eichel who has no trouble getting up ice and scoring when the opportunity is there, most times at the expense of defense. Throughout the second half of the season there were plenty of reports from the media that there was a disconnect between Eichel and Bylsma because of their differing apporaches.

This seeming clash of styles was not only on display from game to game but also within games as well. On more than a few occasions with Eichel back in the lineup, the Sabres would fall behind early in the game playing a tighter game only to come back when they opened things up with nothing to lose. It began against the Los Angeles Kings in December and really came to the fore as they won three consecutive come-from-behind games in overtime playing games just like that. Buffalo almost made it a fourth in a row but a couple of questionable calls didn't go their way and they lost in regulation to the Dallas Stars.

That reported disconnect between Eichel and Bylsma also reportedly seeped into the locker room. According to some reports a vet/youngin disconnect began bubbling with the young guns wanting to play one way and the vets following Bylsma's system.

Goalie Robin Lehner called out players for not following the game-plan and O'Reilly placed the blame on poor play during a string of losses on himself and his fellow teammates. Brian Gionta, Buffalo's 38 yr. old captain, also put the blame on the players, but there was a sense that the young brigade lead by Eichel and his 21 yr. old roommate and linemate, Sam Reinhart, had trouble getting on board with what Bylsma wanted. This supposed tug of war between vets and youngins, as alluded to by some members of the press, certainly didn't help unify the locker room.

There's a lot of blame to go around for the disappointment that was this season and no doubt injuries made for an uphill climb all season. But fact of the matter is, Buffalo was in a playoff race in February, but wilted. They also had many opportunities to jump teams ahead of them in the standings from December onward but came up woefully short nearly every time.

Buffalo GM Tim Murray's got himself some work to do for next season which includes shoring up the defense, finding another top-six talent to round out that group and moving some expensive dead weight. But maybe his most important work will involve becoming a conduit between players and coaches as well as vets and youngins. Despite what Bylsma said at his year-end presser, there are and have been disconnects all over this season and it started early and it looks as if that was a big contributor to the Sabres regression.

It wasn't supposed to go that way.

While talking to John Wawrow of the associated press less than a week before the start of the season, Murray told him that his team "should be getting better" then followed it up by saying, "When we stop getting better, than we've done something wrong."

Something, or a number of things, went wrong for Murray's team this season and a good starting point moving forward might be to make sure everybody's on the same page.

Plenty of intrigue concerning the Sam Reinhart benching.

Publishes by hockeybuzz.com, 3-29-2017


The score read Columbus Blue Jackets-3, Buffalo Sabres-1 and that loss coupled with wins by both Boston and Toronto officially eliminated the Sabres from the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Normally the game itself and the fact that the Sabres now have a little 'x' by their name in the standings would be the crux of a story, but last night some drama was in play for Buffalo at Nationwide Arena. When you look over the Event Summary you'll find No. 23, Sam Reinhart's name and you'll find a series of empty white boxes across his stat-line.

Nothing.

Reinhart is on the summary because he did in fact dress for the game but Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma had him sit on the bench the entire game for disciplinary reasons. According to Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News a source had told him that Reinhart was late for a team meeting at the hotel and Bylsma laid down the punishment.

“Earlier in the day, Sam Reinhart violated a team policy, and the discipline was not playing in tonight’s game,” said Bylsma post-game. “We’re going to move forward from here. Disappointing, but it happened and we dealt with it. We’re going to move on from here.”

There was a dark cloud hanging over the Sabres dressing room after the game last night as their should have been. They lost the game despite spending oodles of time in the Columbus zone and outshooting the Blue Jackets by a 42-29 margin and there's little doubt they knew the fate of their season after the loss, but they also were witness to a strong statement by Bylsma that the team comes first and that a violation of team rules has it's consequences, however harsh it may be perceived as.

Sabres captain Brian Gionta came out after showering and graciously answered questions about the incident. Gionta had just celebrated his 1000th NHL game the night before by scoring the eventual game-winner against Florida and now he was at the other end of the spectrum. “We’re building a culture here, so everybody needs to learn from it," he said of Bylsma benching Reinhart for the infraction. "It’s about the long term of this franchise and where we go and how we grow as a team and as an organization. While it’s a small hiccup tonight, it’s better in the long run for what we’re trying to get to.”

When I asked the 16-year veteran if he'd seen this type of benching before Gionta said, "Yeah, it's happened plenty of times over the course of my career. Like I said, it's where we're trying to get through as an organization and we need everybody into it.

"I think it will be good in the long run."

Fellow second overall pick, linemate and roommate of Reinhart, Jack Eichel, sat in the locker room post-game peeling away his sweat-drenched pads. He had the typical Eichel redness about him after exerting himself for 23:41 of ice-time while spending time on the ice with every forward who skated last night.

Eichel hates to lose, and no doubt he hates to be out of the playoffs for the second time in his only two pro seasons. Perhaps there was even more consternation about him as his linemate and roommate was so visibly punished. He didn't have much to say afterwards. When I asked about being double-shifted down two top-six forwards he simply stated, "yeah, being down a few guys I got a little more, it was nice."

That was about it.

Reinhart is having a solid sophomore season for Buffalo from a statistical perspective. He's already surpassed his total of 42 points from last season with 17 goals and 29 assists and although his goal-total is down from the 23 he has last season, Bylsma said earlier yesterday morning on WGR550 radio that Reinhart has had a net-front presence this year but that he's not been able to get the tips or the rebounds to go in. Bylsma counted nine tip-ins last season and another four net-front goals but this year the coach said that the playmaker in Reinhart has been coming to the fore

"Sam has always been a pass-first guy," Bylsma told host WGR host Jeremy White yesterday. "He has shown, I think, that he's a true play-making, pass-first guy."

That said, there has been a bit of a change form his rookie year that's been noted by beat reporters in that Reinhart was no longer a constant presence at Ryan O'Reilly's after-practice sessions. Last season Reinhart played mostly on a line with O'Reilly and was a constant at the informal practice sessions soaking up everything the vet had to offer. And it showed as his game slowly gained traction. In his first 23 games Reinhart scored seven points (4+3) or .30 points/game while in his last 56 games he had 35 points (19+16) for .58 ppg.

This year he's been largely absent for the post-practice sessions and is on a pace for .51 ppg while playing mostly on a line with Eichel.

Is there a correlation?

Maybe. Maybe not. But who'd have thought that Reinhart, who grew up in a hockey family and who is considered to be a mature, professional player, would get suspended?

It's been rough and rocky travelling for the Sabres this season and the end result is that they'll miss the playoffs. There has been constant speculation that Bylsma may be losing the room and that there's some friction between Eichel and Bylsma. With that in mind, keeping Reinhart benched for the entire game certainly doesn't help matters even if Reinhart was needed to hit the NHL mandate for dressing a minimum of 20 players with Kyle Okposo as a late scratch due to illness.

Emerging from the cloud that hovered over the locker room last night was GM Tim Murray. Whether it's a peculiar sight having the GM on the road with the team at this point in the season is up for discussion, but he was there. The first thing that popped into my head upon seeing him was what Murray told a disappointed and emotional Reinhart after he was sent back down to junior back in 2014, "you're my first 1st-round draft pick as a GM."

Again, whether or not the Reinhart situation had anything to do with Murray being there is unknown but in the very least, he has some impeccable timing.

The Sabres have four days between games. They're off today and then begin to get ready for a matinee with the NY Islanders on Sunday. More on the incident will come out and it will be put to rest. As the season finishes up and as we begin the post-season we'll know more about the direction of the team. But as for now, the Sabres lost last night, were eliminated from the playoffs and have five games remaining in their season.

This is no reason to keep head coach Dan Bylsma.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-23-2017


When Sabres ownership and management look back on a season of stagnation (at best) in Buffalo, the most predominant themes running through will be injuries and an inadequate defense-corps that also dealt with a slew of injuries as well.

A quick recap on the injuries starts in the top-six with Jack Eichel missing the first 21 games, Evander Kane going down in the opener and missing 11 games plus Ryan O'Reilly suffering from, and trying to play through, back spasms early on while going under the knife for an emergency appendectomy at Christmas. Bottom-six checking center Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Years Eve.

On the back end there's newcomer Dmitry Kulikov, who missed most of camp because of the World Cup of Hockey then proceeded to smack his tailbone into a open bench door during a preseason game. He was never the same and confessed to the press mid-season, “For old people, you get out of bed, you’re kind of stiff. It’s just a little stiffer for me, I would say." Zach Bogosian had his annual stint on the injured list with 26 games and Josh Gorges missed 16 which is around his average over the last six years.

Injuries like those will cripple almost any team, especially on that's in the second year of their build which coincides with how many years Bylsma's been at the helm in Buffalo.

Those are tangibles and then there are comparables as well.

On the rebuilding side there's the Toronto Maple Leafs who moved into third in the Atlantic Division with an impressive win over Columbus last night. The Leafs are in their first building season, are scoring over three goals per game (as opposed to Buffalo's 2.45) and have seemingly found instant success with an almost injury-free season.

On the injury front team-wise there's the Florida Panthers who were also beset by injuries to star players early on but also went through a coaching change. The Cats have gone from 103 points last season (third in the conference) to one point ahead of Buffalo, or 13th in the conference.

At season's end GM Tim Murray, who was just handed a contract extension this season, and ownership will take everything into consideration, including a dreadful Rochester Americans season,  and decide the future of Bylsma.

But one of the troublesome things that keeps cropping up in the conversation over Bylsma's future, is the three years remaining on his contract and the parallel between him and the recently fired coach of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, Rex Ryan. The Pegula family own both the Sabres and the Bills.

Both Ryan and Bylsma came to Buffalo with experience and reputations, most notably Bylsma who had won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. Both were signed to five-year contracts with the thought that they'd lay a foundation the franchises could move forward with. Ryan failed and was fired with one game left in his second season. Bylsma is nearing the end of his second season in Buffalo and may end up with a worse record than last season which itself was in the lower portion of the league.

Would the Pegula's fire both of their head coaches with three years remaining on their respective contracts?

Chris Nichols of Fanrag, delved into quotes from TSN/NBCSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie who chimed in on the situation. “I don’t think the Pegula family is keen on paying both Ryan and Bylsma not to coach the Bills and the Sabres," Nichols quotes McKenzie as saying, "and they obviously made that decision with Ryan and the Bills."

I get the gist of the Pegula's not wanting do dish out tens of millions of dollars for fired coaches, but that shouldn't come into consideration. Those involved in the signings of the coaches need to take responsibility. For Ryan and the Bills that would include the Pegulas themselves and President Russ Brandon, all of whom were said to be at the forefront of the hire. For Bylsma and the Sabres, departed team President Ted Black may have been involved in Bylsma's hire and we're pretty sure the Pegula's were involved as well, especially when you consider they lost out on Mike Babcock, the high-profile coach now leading an extremely young Leafs team to the brink of the playoffs.

Regardless of what happened with Ryan, if Bylsma was a bad hire, or more than likely a good coach who's just a bad fit for what Murray envisioned, then by all means pull the plug. But don't let the firing of Ryan into the equation. It something that might only prolong the inevitable and move the team further backward instead of forward.

Pegulaville '17: Jackals folding, Rochester mess, Sabres sliding

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-11-2017


When billionaire Terry Pegula took over the Buffalo Sabres in February, 2011 he laid out a picture where no expense would be spared to turn the Sabres into a top-notch organization. In his first presser he talked about taking the financial chains off management while also boldly stating that money would be pouring into drafting and developing (as well as keeping) theirplayers.

"There is no salary cap for the National Hockey League on scouting budgets and player development budgets," Pegula declared. "I plan on...increasing our scouting budgets, both with bodies on the ground, and in areas we may not be hitting capably, and also enhancing our video department. Starting today, we will bring in more player development coaches, to help these guys become better hockey players, work on their weaknesses, or whatever the coaches think. We will aspire to be the best in the league at finding, developing, and keeping our players in their new Buffalo Sabre family."
True to his word, Pegula allowed upper management to bolster the scouting department. When he took over from GM to amateur scout there were 16 people who represented the hockey department which included two scouting directors, two pro scouts and eight amateur scouts. Today the Hockey Department has a group of six scouting directors overseeing a scouting department of 16 pro and amateur scouts as well as one person devoted to Analytics.

However, it's an evolution that does not bring instant gratification and it's best to keep in mind that GM Tim Murray began to put this team in place nearly three years ago with 2014 being his first draft for Buffalo.

Pegula furthered his player development plan by purchasing the Rochester Americans and buying out the Sabres affiliation with the Portland Pirates. Under previous Sabres owner Tom Golisano, the long-time affiliation with the Rochester Americans went from a lone, 29-year affiliation to a shared one with the Florida Panthers (2005-08) to Buffalo breaking away and aligning themselves with the Portland Pirates beginning in 2008. With Pegula's 2011 purchase of the Amerks, Rochester was back in the fold and Western New York hockey was whole again.

To expand their player development plans even further, the Sabres announced an East Coast Hockey League affiliation with the Elmira Jackals beginning with the 2014-15 season.

Unfortunately for Pegula and his Sabres, things haven't gone quite as planned yet as every organization is going through a rough patch.

Yesterday it was announced that the Jackals will cease operations at the end of this season. The Sabres have three prospects on the team--F, Justin Kea;  D, Brycen Martin;  G, Jason Kasdorf--who've all been placed in difficult situation on a losing team.

According to the Jackals Wiki page, the franchise had been in trouble for years beginning with ownership issues in 2012 when, according to the page, "the Arena owner failed to pay $136,234 in taxes for three years" and foreclosure was on the horizon. Chemung County held off and in 2013 First Arena and the Jackals had new owners.

At the start of the 2013-14 season the Jackals announced that they were "community owned" and that any profits would go back into the community. They lost money and in 2016 the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) took over ownership of the Arena and the Jackals. With the team at the bottom of the league yesterday "the IDA announced that it had sold First Arena to local businessman Brian Barrett [and] as part of an agreement, it was announced that the Elmira Jackals would cease operations at the end of the season."

As of now there's been no official word from Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE) concerning the Jackals.

Yesterday wasn't a good day for the Rochester Americans either as they lost. The Amerks are 24-33-0-2 and it looks as if they'll be out of the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Rochester had made the playoffs three consecutive seasons after Pegula bought the franchise but were bounced in the first round every time.

In addition to on-ice woes there are squabbles over the Amerks home, Blue Cross Arena. Basically the 61 yr. old arena which was renovated in 1998 and is due for a makeover and the city and PSE are not fully on the same page when it comes to the undertaking.

Rochester just secured $10 million in state funding for the downtown arena and while the city and it's mayor, Lovely Warren, have their plans PSE and the Sabres, who are the primary tenants via the Amerks, would like a broader say. "Being the largest tenant, we would like to have more control and active discussion in how the dollars that come in are appropriated,” PSE Managing Partner and President Russ Brandon said. “We’re going to need some changes down the road to ensure viability."

The Amerks one-year lease is up at the end of the season and now there have been reports that "the team is exploring other venues in which to play," according to a recent article by Brian Sharp and Leo Roth of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

"A report on ESPN 95.7-FM," wrote Sharp and Roth, "that team owners, eyeing the expiring lease, had contacted at least one other arena outside the city about hosting the team, led to speculation on other programs and on social media that the Amerks might leave."

Brandon flatly denied it saying the report is “100 percent wrong. We're not planning on going anywhere."

To further what Brandon said, the article points out that "the team already has sent in its game dates to the American Hockey League, officials said, is working with arena manager SMG on promotions for next year, and the team website is accepting season ticket renewals for next season."

As for the Sabres, the 2016-17 season is turning into a disaster as they lost again last night. In the last nine games Buffalo has won only one time and mathematics is the only thing keeping from a sixth consecutive season outside the playoffs.

Buffalo travelled to Columbus last night and even though the Blue Jackets didn't play anything close to their best game, the still beat the reeling Sabres.

This might be more than just a late-season slide, as Buffalo's spiral into the abyss could cost coach Dan Bylsma his job.

Bylsma and his systems have been in place for nearly two seasons and in both Buffalo and Rochester the results have been underwhelming. Last year Buffalo may have exceeded expectations after gaining their footing and finishing the season on a high note, but this year the team seems to be regressing. Although individual players like Evander Kane and Jack Eichel are having stellar seasons while Kyle Okposo, Ryan O'Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart are around previous expectations, the team as a whole is a mess.

Same goes for Rochester.

Dan Lambert went from Bylsma's side in Buffalo as an assistant coach last season to Amerks head coach this year and with Lambert came Bylsma's systems. The Amerks, like their parent club, is languishing near the bottom of the conference and amongst the troubles with both are goaltenders who are facing tons of leather.

Linus Ullmark, in his first full season as a starter for Rochester, has faced a league-leading 1416 shots-against while the next nearest is 1251. In Buffalo the duo of Robin Lehner and Anders Nilsson have faced a league-high 34.1 shots per game or a grand total of 2319 shots.

Another area is the Penalty Kill. Buffalo's penalty kill sits 29th in the league (76%) while the Amerks are 25th (80%.)

There are discrepancies as pure talent has the Sabres powerplay second in the league at 23.3% while the Amerks sit at 27th with only a 14.8 conversion rate, but for the most part the overwhelming sentiment with both clubs is utter disappointment.

If you're about to slit your wrists having read the above, take heart in knowing that help is on the way for both clubs, at least with the forward group.

It's best to keep in mind that Murray completely gutted both teams and his primary focus of the rebuild was Buffalo. He had Eichel and Reinhart rightfully bypassing Rochester and this past season saw an Amerks roster that had only a handful of draft picks on the team. William Carrier, Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste, all spent most of last season with Rochester but were summoned to the big club this year and spent some good chunks of time in Buffalo. Carrier, who progressed nicely in Rochester played in eight games for the Amerks and 35 with the Sabres until he was felled by injury. Bailey had a two-game call-up early in the season and after impressing during his second call-up has stuck with the team for the last 25 games.

Evan Rodrigues struggled in Rochester last year and in the early part of this season but has been outstanding during his latest call up to Buffalo. He scored his third goal of the season last night and in doing so broke Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's shutout streak at 182:50. It's highly doubtful he'll be seeing Rochester again as Bylsma tried to give him as much ice-time as possible last night.

Those four--Carrier, Bailey, Baptiste and Rodrigues--managed to seemingly break trough the NHL threshold which is a good developmental sign. Take them out of the equation in Rochester and there's a huge gap that won't be filled until next year.

Defense is still a shaky matter as the Amerks best defenseman, Justin Falk, was summoned to the big club in mid-November and for the most part hasn't left. Veterans Taylor Fedun and Eric Burgdoerfer got a taste of Buffalo but have mostly stayed in Rochester and both have held their own in a mostly dismal Amerks season. Homegrown defensive talent is severely lacking and it won't get much better next season as prime prospect Brendan Guhle will probably bypass the AHL and head right to Buffalo.

Other than that 20 yr. olds Will Borgen (St. Cloud State) and Devante Stephens (Kelowna, WHL) should be on their way to Rochester with an outside possibility that Providence Friar Anthony Florentino could be there, maybe on an AHL or ATO contract, according to Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com.

And if the Sabres can get goalie Cal Petersen signed should he decide to leave Notre Dame early, this next wave of prospects should add a jolt of talent to the system.

Was told last night "trust the process," which is tough to do when the product is in such rough shape. That said, in looking at what the Sabres have done scouting wise--Guhle, Petersen, Borgen, Rodrigues, Stephens and Giorgio Estephan who may also be in Rochester next season, along with Rasmus Asplund and goalie Jonas Johansson overseas--there's plenty of room for optimism even if Pegulaville looks to be burning.

Woof.

Sabres respond to Murray speech. However, can they keep it going?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-3-2017


It's getting to the point where "what if?" is making it's way into the vernacular. For the Sabres some of them would include, "What if Jack Eichel wasn't injured? or "What if they'd managed to get a handful of points from teams like Boston?" or "What if they'd taken care of business at Colorado and Arizona last weekend?"

Homie ain't gonna play that game. The only one to play is, "What it is."

Simple fact is the Buffalo Sabres are outside a playoff spot with multiple team to jump and 18 games remaining in the regular season. Last night they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-3 to snag two points with the scoreboard tilting slightly in their favor as Boston lost while Florida and Toronto got loser points. The Sabres are five points out of the second wild card spot and seven points out of third place in the division.

GM Tim Murray visited the Sabres locker room yesterday to talk to his troops, something he rarely does. The NHL Trade Deadline came and went with no movement involving Buffalo. Everyone knew the names that could've been moved--Dmitry Kulikov, Cody Franson and Brian Gionta--but none were moved and, considering the Sabres were in a 0-3-1 rut, no one was brought in to bolster the club.

The trade deadline is a tough time for players, especially those with families, as uncertainty reigns supreme well into the late afternoon. With the team in the dressing room getting ready for the game Murray went in and talked to his team. After the meeting he went on air with WGR550 an talked about it. "This is our team," Murray said about his talk. "We're relatively healthy right now and we're going to play as hard as we can and get as many points as we can. D-day has gone by. This is our team. You're here. There's 19 games left and let's see what we can do."

And he reiterated his faith in his team, "It's late. It's getting down to the nitty gritty for sure and it's going to be tough and I still believe these players can get it done. Maybe it's false belief. I don't know. I told them I believe in them."

That resonated well amongst those gathered. According to media reports, Ryan O'Reilly said "it was something we needed to hear" while Eichel embraced the team unity aspect about "everyone caring for each other, and everyone gets better and moves forward."

Marcus Foligno said that "everyone in the organization is on the same page. That's what it was" then concluded "Being on the same page and hearing it from Tim was nice. You hear it from your general manager and everyone is going to listen and respect what he said to us."

It kinda makes you what if Murray....

Nope. Ain't gonna go there.

Murray's team responded with a good win that was closer than the score indicated. Buffalo played their usual Jekyll and Hyde game where sometimes they look like world-beaters and at other times they can't help but stumble over themselves. They had a great night on special teams with two powerplay goals and a shortie by Foligno who was set up by some hard work by O'Reilly. But they also gave up a short handed goal and allowed the Coyotes to tie the score twice before pulling away.

Evander Kane, "Mr. Five-on-Five," sent a laser past Arizona goalie Mike Smith to put the Sabres up 4-3 and Buffalo would add two empty net goals by Foligno and Sam Reinhart for the final score.

There's a big test for the Sabres coming on Saturday when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightining in a "four-point" game. Tampa is one point ahead of Buffalo in the standings with two games in hand and they'll make up one of those games tonight as they're in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins.

The Sabres haven't fared well against the Bolts lately. They're 0-2 so far this season and went 1-3 vs. Tampa Bay last year. However, tomorrow night's game represent a prime opportunity for Buffalo as they're at home and Tampa's will be coming in for the second game of a back-to-back roadie.

Murray speech yesterday did some good, but how long it will last remains to be seen.

What's with all the Evander Kane talk?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-22-2017


Nine months ago no NHL general manger would touch him, Sabres fans were ready to take a bag of pucks for him and derision spewed from those who "told us" that Evander Kane was nothing but a selfish piece of crap.

My, how things have changed. I guess that's what happens when you go on a streak of 21 goals in 36 games and look exactly like the player that scored 30 as a third-year player. Size, speed, skill, grit and moxie, that's what Buffalo GM Tim Murray traded for when he sent a package to the Winnipeg Jets to land Kane as the primary piece in a February, 2015 blockbuster deal. That Kane opted for surgery and was unavailable after the trade in the year of "McEichel" was a bonus.

Kane's tenure in Buffalo had been tenuous at best. That was up until he began his tear beginning December 3 with a goal vs. the Boston Bruins. Anyone who watched Kane in Atlanta playing for the Thrashers in his first few years knew what he had to offer and there wasn't a hockey fan on earth not envious of Le Thrash for having a power forward like him. Yet after Atlanta was relocated to Winnipeg, off-ice issues started cropping up with the Jets and continued in Buffalo. For a seven-month stretch beginning in December, 2015 and culminating with a bar room altercation in Buffalo while the Sabres and the city were hosting the 2016 NHL Draft, Kane caused consternation in Saberland to the point where, supposedly, owner Terry Pegula wanted him gone.

Pegula wasn't without reservations to begin with when it came to trading for Kane as he and his GM Murray were discussing the potential trade in early 2015. With the Winnipeg incidents still fresh in the minds of all involved, Murray laid it out pretty straight, like he always seems to do, for his boss. "[Pegula] asked questions and I answered them truthfully and to the best of my ability. It wasn't all unicorns and rainbows and juju's," said Murray of Kane's issues at the time of the trade. "it never is with any player. Players have warts. The best players have warts and I can tell you the best of the very best of players had warts. It's just what it is. He listened, asked questions, he wants to be informed and then he told me to do what I felt was best.

"I made a trade for Kane so I'm not worried about his character."

One can see Pegula seething in Murray's office after the organizationally embarrassing June, 2016 bar incident. Kane's were looking more like cancerous growths on the organization and I wouldn't be surprised if the rumors of Pegula wanting Kane gone were true. Unfortunately for Pegula, with Kane's off-ice track record and one decent 20-goal campaign, Kane's stock was at an all-time low and demand was even lower.

And it may have gotten lower, if that was possible. After breaking four ribs and missing 11 games then going goal-less for the next 10 games, not only was Kane chastised for his off-ice issues, but he was now getting a rep for being both injury-prone and overrated. However, luckily for Murray, who stuck with his guy, Kane turned it around. Then came the goal-surge and now the trade talk.

Everyone keeps bringing up trading Kane and I get that. I understand the concept "sell-high." But I'd also like to think that Murray didn't put his ass on the line from the beginning until now just to trade Kane away while he's performing exactly like the player Murray traded for. From that perspective it makes absolutely no sense.

Neither does it make sense from a roster perspective. Other than defense, left wing is the weakest position on the team with Kane being the only bona fide top-six winger on the team. Nor does it make sense from a line perspective as Kane and franchise center Jack Eichel are just beginning to click. To use a quote from head coach Dan Bylsma talking to the press about a Kane/Eichel possibility, "imagine [that] coming at you."

Kane and Eichel are bringing the heat and they have helped put the team in the playoff mix, as of this juncture. The Sabres seem to be a team that's tired of losing and even if the odds are further stacked against them, from my perspective, this group deserves the opportunity to take it as far as it will go and trading Kane will send them right back to where they were--Loserville.

The Kane situation is a tough one. He's still on probation from the draft incident and he'll be a free agent at the end of next season. Perhaps he's playing nice off-ice and those warts will come through again. O, perhaps he's maturing. Maybe he'll continue scoring like a banshee or may settle into that 20-25 goal range. In fact, with him certainty is anything but.

What it will come down to for Kane and those in Sabreland is his preference. Does he want to stay in Buffalo? Does he like the direction the team is headed in? And is there a contract extension in his future? The only one's who know are Kane, his agent, and possibly Murray.

I posed a question to a colleague asking, on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest,) what kind of mark would Kane give Buffalo and the Sabres? I gave it a 7, to which he replied, "that seems fair."

Kane could be moved at the trade deadline, but the odds are long. Save for an incredible haul in return come next week, the only time I believe Murray will seriously entertain moving Kane is this off season. And even that would depend upon one thing, whether or not Kane will sign an extension, with a caveat that it will also be a reasonable one for the team moving forward.

That, in my opinion, should be the only real conversation right now.