Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Don Granato

Buffalo Sabres To Name Captain Prior To Regular Season

at CDT | by 12 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t officially had a captain since just prior to this season when they stripped the title from the injured Jack Eichel prior to an early-season trade to the Vegas Golden Knights. That year-long absence will come to an end soon, though, as newly-extended general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters today that the team will announce their leadership group for 2022-23, including a team captain, prior to the regular season.

As mentioned by The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski in the linked story above, veteran winger Kyle Okposo is the leading candidate for the role, supported by rumors over the offseason. Okposo had his best offensive year as a Sabre despite largely playing in a fourth-line role, cracking the 20-goal mark for the first time since 2015-16 and had 45 points, his highest total in a Sabres jersey. Forming solid chemistry with Zemgus Girgensons, also expected to be named an alternate captain as the longest-tenured Sabre, Okposo’s taken on a de facto leadership role and is becoming an integral part of the team’s voice.

While Okposo has been an alternate captain in Buffalo for the past five seasons, Alex Tuch also jumps out as an obvious candidate for the job. Acquired in the Eichel trade, the Buffalo native had 38 points in 50 games as a Sabre this past year and cemented himself as a top-six fixture.

Speaking today on the team’s leadership group, head coach Don Granato said the following:

I’ll just point out our three older, I think our three oldest guys, are Girgensons, Okposo and Craig Anderson. And they do a tremendous job. They have that presence. And they are in it, obviously, as competitors, but they really have a deep care for helping some other guys achieve more. They don’t fear that this guy might replace me. Which is very uncommon. Whether that is an unconscious thought, or a subconscious thought. Sometimes it’s hard for the older players to really, really help a guy who might replace them or take some ice time away from them. And those three guys there, they love it.

USA Hockey Announces 2022 World Championship Coaching Staff

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The IIHF World Championship will begin next month in Finland, and former New York Rangers head coach David Quinn is set to lead the U.S. squad. Today, his staff has been announced, with Jeff Blashill of the Detroit Red Wings, Don Granato of the Buffalo Sabres, and Mike Hastings from Minnesota State University joining as assistants.

Blashill, head coach of the Red Wings for the last seven years, was actually head coach of the men’s national team at three previous World Championships. He also has experience with USA Hockey at the U18 and U20 levels and stops in both the AHL and NCAA. Several players that he is familiar with, including most prominently Dylan Larkin, could be in play for the U.S. at the event, as the Red Wings are set to miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Granato, who took over as the head coach of the Sabres last season, has received many accolades for his work turning the team around. While they won’t reach the playoffs this year, huge developmental steps have been taken from several players. One of those is Tage Thompson, who could play a significant role if selected for the U.S. squad, along with several of his Sabres teammates.

Hastings meanwhile is the lone assistant from outside of the NHL, coming to the Worlds after leading his Minnesota State Mavericks all the way to the national championship game this year. Hastings has been with the program for a decade and helped turn it into one of the most dominant teams in the NCAA, posting winning percentages above .800 in each of the last three years. Nathan Smith, the Mavericks standout who recently debuted with the Arizona Coyotes seems a likely candidate for the team if they so choose, after his outstanding junior season. Dryden McKay, winner of the Hobey Baker and a Mavericks legend, could also be in the mix, depending on the team’s goaltending situation.

The tournament begins on May 13 in Tampere and Helsinki.

Buffalo Sabres Update Several Injuries

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Every week it seems like the Buffalo Sabres announce several new long-term injuries, and this week was no different. The team gave an updated injury report which now lists Kyle Okposo as week-to-week following a hit from Erik Brannstrom on Tuesday night. Head coach Don Granato told reporters including John Vogl of The Athletic that Okposo did not suffer a concussion on the play, but is out with “bumps and bruises.”

Unfortunately, the bad news didn’t end there. Colin Miller, who was still listed as week-to-week on the update, underwent surgery and will miss six weeks. The 29-year-old defenseman played just a few days ago and had been discussed as a strong trade deadline chip for the Sabres. Miller is a pending unrestricted free agent, right-handed, and has nearly 400 games of NHL experience. That made him an attractive option, but he’ll now have to work through rehab and get back to full strength if Buffalo really wants to cash in.

Meanwhile one of their own trade acquisitions, Malcolm Subban, also had surgery and is likely out for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old netminder was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks last month for nothing more than future considerations but will end with just four appearances for the team. Given Subban is also a pending unrestricted free agent, it’s a tough blow that could see him struggling to find an NHL contract in the summer. In those four games, he posted a .871 save percentage and now holds a .898 for his 86-game NHL career.

Vinnie Hinostroza, who has been a nice story for the Sabres this season with eight goals and 17 points in 36 games, will miss about three weeks with his lower-body injury. The Sabres have recalled Jack Quinn today, who appears to be ready for an extended look at the NHL level because of how many injuries the team is currently dealing with.

Sabres Place Three In COVID Protocol

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Sabres have announced that head coach Don Granato along with center Dylan Cozens and Mark Jankowski have all been placed in COVID protocol.  They added that all three are currently asymptomatic although under the current NHL protocols, all three will miss at least the next three days.

Cozens is off to a good start to his sophomore season, collecting eight goals and seven assists in 30 games, good for sixth in scoring on the Sabres.  Meanwhile, Jankowski was recently converted to an NHL contract and had played in four games since then, picking up an assist while logging nearly 13 minutes a night in ice time.  The two join Zemgus Girgensons and Vinnie Hinostroza as those that are currently unavailable while Granato is one of eight head coaches currently in COVID protocol.

Buffalo is currently slated to return to the ice on Wednesday against New Jersey unless there are further changes made to the schedule with a decision on that front expected later today.

Injury Notes: Hayes, Sabres, Raanta

at CDT | by 7 Comments

While Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes is eligible to come off long-term injured reserve for Philadelphia’s game on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it sounds like the forward isn’t quite ready to return from an injury that’s kept him out all season up until this point. Head coach Alain Vigneault won’t rule it out but says that “Wednesday is an outside chance, more on the outside than on the inside” in terms of Hayes’ availability. If Hayes does return, it will be ahead of schedule. He was expected to miss roughly two months after being placed on injured reserve in late September as he continued to recover from offseason core muscle surgery.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • While the Sabres have dealt with some injuries to key players lately, it sounds like there’s good news on the horizon. Forward Victor Olofsson is close to returning, while a day-to-day injury that’s keeping goalie Craig Anderson out of the lineup isn’t serious enough to warrant placing him on injured reserve, per Sabres head coach Don Granato. Olofsson’s been a pleasant surprise, jumping out to lead the team in scoring with nine points in just eight games while playing over 17 minutes a night. The injury looks to be a bump in the road on a real breakout season for the Swedish forward, who’s often been chastised for his lack of production at even-strength.
  • Carolina Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta left Saturday’s game after colliding with Florida Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg, and the team’s public relations team tweeted that he won’t return to the game with an upper-body injury. Raanta’s lengthy injury history gives serious cause for concern here, and it appears as though Frederik Andersen could need to continue shouldering the load for the next little while. Lomberg was assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play.

Casey Mittelstadt And Henri Jokiharju Out A Couple Of Weeks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato announced Friday morning that center Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Henri Jokiharju will both be sidelined for “a couple of weeks” with different injuries.

Mittelstadt left Thursday night’s 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear as to when or on what play Mittelstadt sustained the injury. Jokiharju played the entirety of last night’s contest, logging 16:39 of ice time. He’s sidelined with a lower-body ailment.

Granato notes that Arttu Ruotsalainen and Will Butcher will likely draw into the lineup Saturday against Arizona in the place of Mittelstadt and Jokiharju. He also says the team wants “to get everybody in,” making it seem like additional call-ups from the AHL’s Rochester Americans are likely coming to bolster the roster.

It’s an extremely tough break for a Sabres team that got off to an unexpectedly strong start, albeit through just one game. They’ll now have to move forward without their number one center in addition to a top-pairing defenseman for multiple weeks.

If Granato’s “couple of weeks” prognosis holds true, Mittelstadt and Jokiharju could miss six games over the course of the next two weeks. The Sabres have a rather light schedule to begin the season but have a pair of tough matchups against the Boston Bruins on October 22 and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on October 25.

 

Buffalo Sabres Sign Casey Mittelstadt

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Buffalo Sabres have reached an agreement with one of their restricted free agents, signing Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year deal. The contract comes with an average annual value of $2.5MM, a nice boost for a player that still hasn’t quite lived up to his high draft pedigree.

Mittelstadt, 22, was the eighth overall pick in 2017, selected a few spots ahead of young players like Martin Necas and Nick Suzuki who have already established themselves as key parts with their respective teams. In Buffalo, Mittelstadt has experienced the same struggles that almost everyone else on the roster has, posting just 61 points in 155 games. In 2019-20 he was sent to the Rochester Americans for half the season to work on his game, as it was not quite consistent enough to help the NHL squad.

The encouraging part about Mittelstadt, and why this three-year contract may look like quite a bargain very quickly, is his performance under head coach Don Granato. When Granato took over partway through last season, Mittelstadt had just one goal and five points in 13 games. He was seeing inconsistent minutes and not regularly lining up at center. That changed under the new head coach, and the young forward took a huge step forward, scoring nine goals and 17 points in 28 games through the end of the season. In those matches, he averaged more than 17 minutes a night and played center full-time.

If Mittelstadt can continue to play up to his draft pedigree under Granato, the Sabres have a true building block to help turn things around. The young forward has outstanding puck skills and playmaking ability, but seemed completely lost at times under the previous regimes. The team is obviously not giving up on him, investing in a multi-year deal ahead of what could be a breakout season.

The $2.5MM cap charge brings the Sabres a little closer to the cap floor, with Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju still to sign. The big question is Jack Eichel though, as a trade would leave the Sabres scrambling to add salary if a similar number–$10MM–didn’t come back the other way.

Buffalo Sabres Hire Don Granato As Head Coach

at CDT | by 19 Comments

It seems the Buffalo Sabres had their next head coach right in front of them all along. After an exhaustive search, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has announced that Don Granato will lose his interim tag and become the next full-time head coach of the Sabres, signing a three-year contract.

Granato, 53, has actually been with the Sabres since the beginning of 2019-20, coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks after Joel Quenneville made his exit. It wasn’t until partway through this season that he got his first opportunity to serve as head coach in the NHL though, taking over when Ralph Krueger was fired in March. The Sabres were on a 12-game losing streak at the time, and though they certainly didn’t turn things around completely, there was far more competitiveness out of the group under Granato down the stretch.

In 28 games behind the Buffalo bench, Granato posted a 9-16-3 record, still not good enough to come anywhere close to the playoffs. But it’s the way the players seemed much more engaged that is encouraging, at least for a franchise that will grab onto any grain of hope at this point.

This isn’t Granato’s first time as a head coach overall. He led the USNTDP for several years and was a head coach of both the Worcester IceCats and Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He has led several junior-aged iterations of Team USA internationally, leading the U18 squad to gold in 2015. He’s also part of quite the hockey family. His brother Tony Granato played 773 games in the NHL and is now the head coach at the University of Wisconsin. His sister Cammi Granato is in the Hockey Hall of Fame after an incredible playing career that included Olympic gold, and her husband, Ray Ferraro, scored over 400 goals in a 1,258-game NHL career.

There is certainly a lot of encouraging signs with the hire of Granato, but that doesn’t mean it comes without risk. Once again, the Sabres are going with a rookie head coach to try and bring together a group that has had zero success over the past decade. Once again, it’ll mean his biggest task will be developing the top-end prospects that litter the organization, turning them into real difference-makers at the NHL level. There is certainly no guarantee he can accomplish that, even if the last few months of the season were better than under his predecessor.

Darren Dreger of TSN was first to break the news that Granato would get a multi-year deal. 

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top