The Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins played a pair of games over the weekend. The results—two lopsided victories for the Pens—frankly don’t matter much in the big picture. The outcomes of each team’s 2017-18 campaigns have been decided for several weeks now. The Sabres, who are off to a league-worst 6-17-4 record, are well on their way to missing the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. The Penguins—back-to-to back Cup champs—have faced some tough injuries, but sit with a comfortable 15-10-3 record and will make the playoffs for the 12th year running. Although the games followed a predictable script, nobody could’ve predicted that it would’ve been this askew between the two teams this year.
On paper, the Sabres are an above-average team. They pay guys who have scored consistently in the past, have a veteran group of defensemen and have two capable NHL goaltenders. The game is played on ice, however, and what got Sabre fans excited at the beginning of the season has translated into the same number of wins as the city’s football team. The issues—for which there are many—can be traced back to a flawed owner.
Terry Pegula, for all his charm and good intentions, has so far failed miserably at the task of delivering the first Stanley Cup to Buffalo. His promises on the day he bought the team now ring hollow. Calling Buffalo ‘Hockey heaven’ was a creative tagline at the time, but is just too easy of a joke now. Before Pegula took control from previous owner Tom Golisano, the team’s longest playoff drought was three years. With so much roster turnover and parity in today’s NHL, it’s actually pretty hard to be so bad for so long. Even the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, who were in the ‘tank’ sweepstakes the same year as the Sabres, made the playoffs last season.
So, how did it turn so ugly for a Carbondale, PA native who was just trying to deliver his favorite team back to glory? Well, for starters, he has consistently brought in the wrong guys to make those big decisions. The list of Sabres executives over the past five years is a dubious one. Hired-and-fired are Ted Black, Pat LaFontaine and Tim Murray. You could argue that the most successful of that trio is Black, the former Penguins executive, because he modernized Buffalo’s broadcasts, and also introduced a series of initiatives that increased the team’s bottom line.
The coaching hires—which there are remarkably four—have been huge flops. Ron Rolston and Ted Nolan each lasted a year-and-a half and were fired for different reasons. Dan Bylsma was simply the wrong guy for a promising, young team who turned the rebuilding process backwards. And Phil Housley, who had eight great seasons in a Sabres uniform, has failed to get this current roster to adapt to his playing style. While it’s completely unfair to judge a coach by 27 games, it is fair to now wonder how long he’ll last behind the bench.
Those coaches were left in a bind, however, by the irrational contracts handed out by those former executives. Could you ever foresee the Penguins giving a guy like Ville Leino a six-year, $27 million contract like the Sabres did? How about dishing out six years and $25 million to Cody Hodgson? Christian Ehrhoff got 10 years and $40 million in 2012. The Sabres bought him out two years later, and he went on to sign with the Penguins. It’s a good thing Pegula makes billions in the oil industry each year to pay the rest of Ehrhoff’s buyout—which runs until 2026.
The ramification of those moves are still being felt by the Sabres. The team has scored 56 goals this season. The Penguins have found the back of the net 83 times. In fact, all seven teams in the NHL’s Central Division have scored at least 78 goals.
To make matters worse for Pegula and the organization, is just how good the Penguins—a team separated by only 215 miles—have done recently. This isn’t just Sidney Crosby’s team anymore. The team drafts incredibly well, acquiring star defensemen Olli Maatta and Jake Guentzel via high draft picks in recent years. They make smart, not splashy free agent signings, and have pulled off some great trades headlined by Phil Kessel.
So, it’s no wonder Pegula is not only trying to be more like Pittsburgh, he’s literally been poaching people from that organization. Although Bylsma clearly didn’t work out, Pegula made a smart hire when he nabbed GM Jason Botterill from the Pens. Botterill had spent the previous seven seasons as Pittsburgh’s assistant general manager, and he was in charge of the team’s largely successful AHL franchise. He inherited a rotten core in Buffalo, but has been carefully maneuvering to make his mark on this team.
Just on Monday, Botterill got one of the former players he helped develop in Pittsburgh. He acquired forward Scott Wilson for a fifth-round draft pick. Wilson isn’t going to be the guy to fix the scoring woes in Buffalo, but he’s going to bring a winning attitude and a shot in the arm to a team who desperately needs it. He appeared in 20 games during Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup run last year, is only 25 years-old, and could be a piece to that long-term puzzle.
As much as they’d like to, Pegula and Botterill aren’t going to be able to acquire Crosby or Kessel anytime soon. But, it’s time to stop overpaying for shaky free agents and making near-sighted trades. It’s time to stop missing on draft picks and hiring coaches who don’t fit the skillsets of their players. No, Jason Botterill can’t overhaul a perennial loser in only a couple of months, but if anyone can turn it around in Buffalo, there’s a good shot it can be the guy who spent the last decade getting paid by the most successful franchise in hockey.
