While the Buffalo Sabres have their new GM in Jason Botterill, the team will take a slow methodical approach to signing a coach. Botterill said recently that he will check out every option, and an interesting name has popped up via Pierre LeBrun of TSN. Ralph Krueger, the former Edmonton Oilers head coach and current chairman of the Southampton Football Club in England is apparently on Botterill’s list of names he’d like to speak with about the job.
Krueger left hockey in 2014 to take on a role in the Premiership, but has been linked to several head coaching vacancies around the NHL in the past year including Vegas and Vancouver. There is clearly a respect for him among the league’s players, as shown during his stint as the head coach of Team Europe this fall at the World Cup. The players spoke out passionately about him as a coach and a man, making many wonder why he hadn’t returned to the NHL already. Krueger has always maintained that he’s focused on his soccer team for the time being though did admit to some “interesting chats.”
Buffalo will turn over every stone for their next head coach, and LeBrun is clear to point out that Krueger may still not even be available for the team. But his return would likely be a welcome one for the team who is looking for someone to the Sabres into something more than just a bunch of great potential. Botterill said he’d like to have a coach in place by the Entry Draft, which takes place just over a month from now.