The Buffalo Sabres have the building blocks for success – but they need the right leader

Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

With Dan Granato’s firing on Tuesday, the Buffalo Sabres have now cycled through seven head coaches during the team’s league-leading 13-year playoff drought.

Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Don Granato. You’ve got a mix of former players, Jack Adams winners and Stanley Cup champions. No matter what they’ve tried, what they’ve assembled, it just hasn’t worked.

During that span, they’ve selected first overall twice—Rasmus Dahlin in 2018 and Owen Power in 2021. They’ve made 10 selections in the top 10 of the draft since then, including second-overall picks Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. Both were key pieces for a while but have since found more success elsewhere. Alex Nylander and Casey Mittelstadt are two other first-rounders who have moved on, too.

None of this is new to Sabres fans. They understand the pain. They’re a passionate fanbase – maybe one of the best in the NHL. Through thick and thin, they’ve cheered on a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff round in nearly two decades. You’re a resilient bunch, you 716ers.

Is there a reason for hope after falling far beyond expectations this year? Many around the league thought the Sabres would be a legitimate playoff threat. Instead, they were eliminated April 10, more than a week before the end of the NHL regular season.

And, really, there is a reason for hope. And, yes, you’ve been hearing that for a few years now. But there are some actual legitimate signs of promise.

Buffalo’s core took big steps forward this year. On the blueline, Dahlin had another strong season, while Power started to come into his own. Adding Bowen Byram was a huge get because even though it was a down year for him in Colorado, his potential to become a valuable top-four piece on defense is undeniable. Mattias Samuelsson missed half the season with an injury, but he’s a minute-muncher who blocks shots and lands hits.

Up front, it was a pleasant surprise to see Zach Benson spend the whole year in the NHL. He had his growing pains, but 30 points for an undersized winger taken last summer is still quite significant. Jack Quinn played well when he returned from injury, while JJ Peterka registered 28 goals and 50 points in an impressive sophomore effort for the 22-year-old German.

On the veteran side, seeing Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson take steps backward was disappointing. Thompson missed some time, but a 38-point drop isn’t what you want to see. Alex Tuch saw his production drop from 20 points as well, but he played at more than a 60-point pace for just the second time in his career en route to leading the team in scoring. All three players saw dips of various degrees, but I wouldn’t be too worried about them moving forward – they still played good hockey on a team that dealt with significant injuries and relied heavily on the youth movement.

Speaking of the next wave, there’s more coming. This year, Matthew Savoie was downright dominant in the WHL and looked excellent in early duty with the Rochester Americans. Isak Rosen and Jiri Kulich had great AHL campaigns, while Lukas Rousek saw some NHL duty again this year, too.

In net, there’s so much potential. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was one of the NHL’s better young goalies, finally living up to the hype many were giving him when he was drafted 54th overall in 2017. And then there’s Devon Levi, who, after some bumps along the way, really started to come into his own in the AHL in the second half of the year. That’s a solid 1-2 goalie duo with high-end potential, something that’s been lacking in Buffalo’s system since Linus Ullmark left back in 2021.

Buffalo is a young team, with most of its veterans lacking big-game experience. But they’re clearly looking long-term here, given they could have easily kept someone like Benson in junior and sprung for a veteran winger instead, among other roster spots. Decide amongst yourself if Buffalo’s shortcomings are coach-related or not, but they needed something to spark some life in this team next year. And maybe a fresh voice is really all the team needs.

Since Jan. 1, the Sabres hummed along at just under a 100-point season-long pace, edging out the New York Islanders, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. But a terrible start, aided by a 27th-place position over the first three months of the season, forced them to play catch-up for far too long. They were still a midpack team in the second half but may have been good enough to squeak into one of the Wildcard spots in a tightly contested playoff race.

A silver lining? Maybe. But they missed the playoffs, plain and simple. That’s all that matters.

The Sabres have already locked up a significant portion of their core. Power is signed until 2031, with Dahlin inked until 2032. Thompson, Samuelsson and Dylan Cozens are all signed until 2030 at various price points, and even Tuch will be around until 2026. The team has a handful of pending UFAs, including Victor Olofsson and Tyson Jost, with the most prominent pending RFA being Luukkonen.

The Sabres are one of the better young pipelines in the NHL, and they’re already seeing some young players graduate into full-time roles, which is promising. The next coach must manage the delicate balance of veteran talent and young kids trying to prove themselves. CapFriendly projects Buffalo to have around $23 million in cap room to work with this summer, giving them a bit of flexibility to try and add some notable veteran pieces over the summer.

There’s no shortage of quality options available on the market. Could a reunion with Lindy Ruff be in the cards? What about another experienced face in Craig Berube? Could Dean Evason or Jay Woodcroft get a shot? How about Seth Appert out of Rochester or two-time NCAA title-winning coach David Carle? It’s worth noting Adams indicated in his presser Tuesday that “previous NHL coaching experience and pedigree is important.”

Ottawa, New Jersey, St. Louis and Los Angeles are the four teams with interim coaches. The Sabres are the only team without anyone right now. It’s a strong market that could get even stronger with more teams moving on from their bench bosses sooner rather than later, too.

So the Sabres have options, but they can’t afford to screw this one up. They’re running out of excuses as to why they can’t turn the ship around after nearly a decade and a half of watching from the sidelines come mid-April. Whoever comes in has to bring must-win mentality from the get-go.

The Sabres are still a flawed group, but they need legitimate, meaningful improvement. It’s up to a new coach to make that happen.

The Buffalo Sabres have the building blocks for success – but they need the right leader

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