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Jack Eichel

Speculation Swirling Around Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres are losing again. Even with the offseason excitement of pairing Taylor Hall with Jack Eichel, the team is at the bottom of the East Division standings, sitting 4-6-2 with just 31 goals in 12 games. That MVP-caliber pair has produced just three goals combined, including just a single tally at even-strength. Add in the zero goals that Jeff Skinner has provided and the Sabres have just three for the combined $27MM cap hit of that trio. With that kind of offensive ineptitude from their highest-paid players, speculation about trades was bound to spark up.

Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined The Instigators on WGR550 in Buffalo and spent nearly 15 minutes discussing the future of Skinner. The 28-year-old forward has six years left after this season on his eight-year $72MM contract but has just 24 points in the 71 games since he signed it. He has just one point this season and has had his ice time reduced dramatically. It’s not clear at all how Buffalo gets out from under the Skinner contract, but Friedman doesn’t believe Buffalo should be trying to attach draft picks as a sweetener in a potential trade.

It was the next topic that really raised some eyebrows though, as the conversation turned to a potential trade of Eichel. Friedman simply stated “yes” when asked if a trade of the Sabres superstar was possible, before going on to explain his thoughts:

Look, we know that this was something that came up last summer. I don’t know that it was ever close. The feeling that I’ve always had is that Buffalo knew Eichel was unhappy. They asked Eichel to take a step last year and he really did, we’ve talked about how much of a step Eichel took last year. Still, when it came to team success it just didn’t really go anywhere. Now you look at where it is this year, you know he’s going to be frustrated, and there were conversations last year. But what I was told was, the Sabres just said ’we are not ready to do this. We are not ready.’ Teams made offers, it was communicated that he was restless. I don’t think he ever asked for a trade, I don’t think it got that far. But he was restless and teams knew it. The Sabres took some offers and said ’no we’re not ready to do this.’

It’s clear that there would be interest in Eichel, but a trade involving a $10MM-per-year contract would certainly not be simple. The 24-year-old center is signed through the 2025-26 season. Friedman notes that the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings could both potentially put together packages for Eichel from the number of assets in the organization, though doesn’t imply they have made an offer at any point.

One important difference between Skinner and Eichel, other than the obvious performance levels, is that the former owns a full no-move clause. Eichel’s NMC doesn’t kick in until the 2022-23 season, the year he would have normally been eligible for unrestricted free agency (players before that age are not allowed to include any trade protection in their contracts). That means trading Skinner would have the additional hurdle of getting his blessing, while Eichel technically doesn’t have to be included in the process.

Still, the only way the Sabres would be moving on from their franchise center is if he wanted it, and though Friedman suggests there was unrest in the summer, Eichel has never publicly stated he is looking for a change. In fact, he has done quite the opposite, by acknowledging his frustration but reaffirming his commitment to the Sabres organization many times. That feeling can change in a heartbeat though, and by the end of this season, Eichel will have played more than 400 NHL games without ever sniffing the postseason. Buffalo hasn’t even had a winning season with him, going 160-194-55 in his five-plus-year career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

East Notes: Barzal, Cizikas, Olofsson, Peterka

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With the opening of training camp, New York Islander players have undergone off-ice testing today. However, one notable missing player today is unsigned restricted free agent Mathew Barzal, who now is considered to officially be a holdout, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple.

Head coach Barry Trotz confirmed that Barzal is not in camp, although he said Barzal is on Long Island. He said he will make due without Barzal for now. The team currently only has $3.9MM in cap room, but once the team is able to put defenseman Johnny Boychuk on LTIR due to a career-ending eye injury, that should open up some extra cap space to sign the first-line center.

“You have to make sure you’re adaptable,” Trotz said. “We’re going to worry about who we can put on the ice.”

  • Sticking with the Islanders, Staple reports that forward Casey Cizikas is in camp and ready to go. The 29-year-old forward was forced to leave the bubble during the playoffs after suffering an eye injury. Cizikas told Staple that he took a hit to the head during the playoffs and the vision in his left eye went blurry. After leaving the bubble, the key fourth-line forward was diagnosed with a detached retina. “I feel comfortable and confident on the ice now, so that’s the most important thing,” said Cizikas.
  • When Taylor Hall signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres, the former Hart Trophy winner was penciled in next two Jack Eichel and winger Victor Olofsson. Unfortunately, the first few days of camp haven’t given him much playing time with those linemates as Eichel has been out with an upper-body injury and has been day-to-day with the start of camp. Now, Olofsson is also listed as day-to-day. The forward left practice Saturday after crashing hard into the goal post while doing a one-on-one drill with Rasmus Dahlin at full speed, according to The Athletic’s Jon Vogl. He was favoring his left arm. However, head coach Ralph Kruger said Sunday that he expects Eichel, Olofsson and goaltender Linus Ullmark to return by Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, although that likely means they will miss Monday’s scrimmage.
  • Despite an impressive showing for Team Germany at the World Juniors last week, Buffalo Sabres prospect John-Jason Peterka will not be attending Buffalo’s training camp. The 18-year-old is expected to return to Germany and play for EHC Munchen in the DEL where he has been playing since last season. The team’s second-round pick (34th overall) scored seven goals amongst men in 42 games there last season and should take a much bigger role with his team this year. Vogl adds that Krueger knows Peterka’s coach in the DEL and believes he will develop him well.

Snapshots: Smith, Sexton, Eichel

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The Chicago Blackhawks will start training camp in a few days and, perhaps surprisingly, Zack Smith will be there. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke to Smith’s agent today and reports that Smith is healthy and plans to be in camp this year, fighting for a roster spot with everyone else. The veteran forward hasn’t played in nearly a year, last hitting the ice on February 12, 2020, before back surgery put him on the shelf.

Earlier this week it was also reported that Andrew Shaw is healthy and will be attending camp, meaning suddenly the Blackhawks have a pair of NHL forward that weren’t being penciled into the lineup just a few months ago. That’s good news, especially given the recent losses the team has experienced, with Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews, and Alexander Nylander all ruled out, perhaps for the entire season. Shaw and Smith are certainly not replacements for those names, but they at least can provide a little depth to a reeling squad.

  • The Minnesota Wild have hired Randy Sexton as Senior Advisor to the General Manager, where he will re-join former colleague Bill Guerin. The two spent years together with the Pittsburgh Penguins when Guerin was first a development coach, then an AGM, and Sexton the team’s director of amateur scouting. More recently Sexton was an AGM for the Buffalo Sabres, working with Jason Botterill, another former Pittsburgh executive, but was swept out with everyone else when changes were made this summer.
  • Speaking of Buffalo, things didn’t get off to a good start today, though it’s not time to panic just yet. Jack Eichel missed the first on-ice session of training camp due to an upper-body injury and is listed day-to-day in his recovery. Interestingly, that left Casey Mittelstadt and Riley Sheahan rotating through the first line center spot between Taylor Hall and Victor Olofsson. Sheahan of course is in camp on a PTO trying to make a name for himself, so today was a nice opportunity to make an early impression. The team also didn’t have Linus Ullmark on the ice thanks to an immigration issue that pushed back his quarantine period. Buffalo expects the goaltender to join them in the next few days.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Buffalo Sabres

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It’s Thanksgiving this week in the United States and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.

What are the Sabres most thankful for?

A deep forward group.

No longer are the Sabres putting all their hopes on youngsters. The team is suddenly loaded with established players who have proven themselves. To go with Jack Eichel, the team has added a number of key additions to go with solid playmakers as the team now boasts Eichel, Taylor Hall, Eric Staal, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson and a number of other players who can thrive in bottom-six roles like Kyle Okposo, Cody Eakins, Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, etc. The depth at forward is a major improvement for a team that needs to score and this team should have that quality of depth that should be able to give Buffalo a chance to earn their first playoff appearance in nine years.

Who are the Sabres most thankful for?

Taylor Hall.

With the pandemic flattening out the salary cap for the foreseeable future, there weren’t too many long-term offers for Hall, the top free agent of the 2020 free agent class. Instead, Hall looked for a short-term deal from a team with extra cap room and surprised quite a few people when he picked the Sabres, due to the chance to play next to Eichel for the year.

The addition of Hall, totally enhances the team’s top-nine as he immediately will slot into the top line next to Eichel and will finally get a chance to play next to an elite center, something he hasn’t had in quite a number of years. The hope is that Hall can find his game from two years ago when he was the Hart Trophy winner with the New Jersey Devils, leading them single-handedly into the playoffs. If he can do that for the Sabres, Buffalo should have a legitimate chance to break their nine-year drought and Hall will establish himself again as the top free agent for 2021 in hopes of landing that big-term deal.

What would the Sabres be even more thankful for?

A return to form of Jeff Skinner.

After posting a 40-goal season in 2018-19 and signing a eight-year, $72MM deal, things never panned out after that for Skinner, who struggled mightily with just 14 goals and 23 points in 59 games last season. The forward was a disaster and found himself spending quite a bit of time on the third line trying to find his game. With seven years at $9MM AAV, the Sabres have to hope that Skinner will be able to bounce back and become that fixture on the second line that they were hoping for. The talent is there to surround the goal-scoring forward, but the team needs for him to execute, otherwise the team will be stuck with a player and a contract that they don’t want.

What should be on the Sabres’ Holiday Wish List?

The Sabres may be in need of help in goal. The Sabres have a solid offense and defense, but their goaltending could be what’s holding them back. The team can hope that Linus Ullmark is ready to take the starting load this season. He did produce impressive numbers with a .915 save percentage in 34 appearances, but is he the answer in net? Unfortunately, top goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, might not be ready for another couple of years, meaning the team may need to find a way to bring in a more proven goaltender that can handle big minutes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Eichel, Hyman, Senators

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While many fans look to the Buffalo Sabres offseason as a success, team star Jack Eichel is just as excited about the team’s moves. The 24-year-old expressed frustration with the Sabres’ team and made it clear the Sabres were in need of more veteran players. The team did just that under new general manager Kevyn Adams, who brought in a number of experienced players, including Taylor Hall, Eric Staal and Cody Eakin to bolster their forward depth.

“I know the league is trying to go younger, but I think that you still need those older guys, the veteran guys, the guys that have been there and won,” said Eichel in an interview with Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski. “I think you need them in your locker room, first of all, and you need them on the ice. We’ve definitely been young. We’ve been in a transition for a few years now. There’s always young guys coming through the organization and you want to see everyone have success, but you look at the transformation that our team made this offseason.”

Eichel, who has not been to the playoffs in his entire career, as Buffalo hasn’t reached the playoffs in nine years, has seen a number of veteran players moved out such as Ryan O’Reilly and Eichel’s friend Zach Bogosian in favor of bringing in younger players. However, Eichel is enthusiastic of the direction of the team this season.

“It’s so hard to win when you’re young,” said Eichel. “I think it’s so important to have that veteran presence in the room and on the ice, so I think it was good for us to add that this offseason. We’ll see what happens.”

  • The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel and James Mirtle (subscription required) debate whether the Toronto Maple Leafs can retain some of their other soon-to-be free agents, including goaltender Frederik Andersen, defenseman Morgan Rielly and forward Zach Hyman. While all three are not likely to be retained due to the team’s continual cap problems in the future, both writers agreed that the slam dunk signing would be Hyman, whose hard-working attitude and competitive culture that he sets in the locker room are critical to bringing back down the road. Of course, both writers did add that much of those hopes will come down to whether Hyman, now 28 and coming off two 20-goal seasons, will be willing to accept a minor home-town discount to stay. If he’s looking to cash in, that could force the team to go in a different direction.
  • While many people are beginning to see hope in Ottawa with some of their offseason moves this offseason as well as the development of their youth, The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian (subscription required) writes that the Senators could find themselves at quite a disadvantage next season assuming they end up in an all-Canadian division next season. Ottawa struggled against their Canadian counterparts, posting a 4-8-2 record, including a minus-12 goal differential against those teams. To make matters worse, most of the Canadian teams have improved during the offseason, which could make Ottawa’s season that much more challenging with no cellar dwellers they can take advantage of.

 

Agent Notes: Survey, Peterson, Clarke

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While general managers and other NHL executives are usually seen as the ones with the most insight on the free agent and trade markets and player values, on the other side of the table agents also have their fingers on the pulse of the game. The Athletic’s Craig Custance recently asked 21 of the top NHL player agents to answer some questions on recent results, the current off-season, and what to expect in the future. Among the most noteworthy responses were their thoughts on how teams have performed in the fall markets. A major rivalry may be renewed, as the highest vote-getter for best off-season was the Montreal Canadiens, while the Boston Bruins received the most votes for incomplete off-season. While agents liked how Montreal has added up front, they have concerns about Boston’s defense in the wake of Torey Krug’s departure. As for projecting upcoming moves, some may be surprised to hear that the top vote-getter for “highest profile player you expect to change teams in the next year” was Buffalo Sabres superstar Jack Eichel (tied with Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine), as many felt that Eichel and new addition Taylor Hall will not be enough to right the ship in Buffalo and one or both will be gone next summer. As for the coming season, two-thirds of those polled believed the 2020-21 season will exceed Custance’s over/under of 55.5 games in length. The vast majority also feel that NBC will retain exclusive television rights in the league’s new contract, but many feel ESPN will be a factor and could at the very least force a split. For more on the opinions of the NHL’s top agents, check out the rest of The Athletic’s survey results.

  • One high-profile agent could soon be changing his allegiance from the player side to the team side. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Brett Peterson of Acme World Sports is in talks to join former colleague Bill Zito with the Florida Panthers. Zito, recently named GM himself, already added one fellow former player agent in Paul Krepelka as an assistant GM but could fill the other AGM vacancy with Peterson. The Boston College grad has over a decade in the business, having joined Acme back in 2009.
  • The agent for top 2021 prospect Brandt Clarke is reportedly trying to get creative. Clarke, a real candidate to go first overall in next year’s NHL Draft, is currently without a place to play as he waits for the OHL to kick off in February. Wanting as much exposure this year as possible, Swedish source Expressen writes that Clarke is considering a move to Vasby IK of the minor league Allsvenskan for the time being until he can return to the Barrie Colts. The elite two-way right-handed defenseman would step into an immediate top role with Vasby, even as he makes his pro debut, as the club is dead last in the Allsvenskan and desperate for help. In what could prove to be a savvy move by his agent, if Clarke can help turn the struggling Vasby club around, it could provide the boost to his draft stock that lands him at No. 1.

Why Taylor Hall Will Be The Can’t-Miss UFA In 2021 That He Expected To Be In 2020

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Taylor Hall is certainly not complaining about making $8MM this season. Considering that the flat salary cap has depressed the market to the point that only four unrestricted free agents have signed deals with an AAV of $6MM or more this off-season – and Hall is the only forward to do so – the talented winger is likely content with his pact with the Buffalo Sabres. For now, that is. Heading into the 2019-20 season, even $8MM seemed like a low cap hit for Hall’s next deal and no one would have guessed that he would settle for a one-year deal. This was not the free agent frenzy and massive long-term deal expected for the Hart Trophy winner. However, one year could make all the difference.

Hall, 28, is one of the few players in the NHL who should not be content with an $8MM valuation. The 2010 first overall pick, Hall has scored at a rate of .9 points per game over his ten-year career, including four seasons at over a point per game and no seasons below .74 since his rookie year. A five-time 20-goal scorer, including 39 tallies (and 93 points) in his 2017-18 MVP season, Hall is a proven scorer in the NHL. A player who has also proven that he can excel on poor teams in which he is the undisputed best player, Hall has managed all of this production through rebuilds with the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils. The ceiling is limitless of what Hall could do on a talented contender.

Given the New Jersey Devils’ rebuild status entering the 2019-20 season, Hall had long been speculated to hit the open market once his contract expired. The Devils pursued a contract extension with their star forward, but to no avail. Perhaps Hall’s injury-plagued 33-game season in 2018-19 played a role in the Devils reluctance to ante up or maybe it was Hall who decided he had done enough for rebuilding squads. Regardless of the reason, Hall was traded in December. However, rather than joining a legitimate playoff team, Hall joined the fringe Arizona Coyotes and again took on the responsibility of being the team’s best player. The result of the whole season was 52 points in 65 games, a strong season for most but a disappointment for Hall as a steep drop-off in per-game production compared to his prior two seasons.

With an injury dominating his 2018-19 campaign and poor results (by his standards) to show for 2019-20, Hall’s MVP status had taken a hit two years removed from winning the Hart. It showed on the open market, as teams were not willing to hand out a long-term, big-money deal to a player that they would not have hesitated to hand a blank check not long ago. The flat cap also didn’t help, as teams have been risk-averse this off-season and not willing to sacrifice cap space by getting into bidding wars. Hall still had multiple offers, but by all accounts they were one-year or short-term offers at below market value.

How does the superstar winger rebound? It begins with the team he decided to sign with. Although it seemingly came out of nowhere, Hall’s decision to join the Buffalo Sabres could prove to be a stroke of genius. Joining Jack Eichel on the Sabres’ top line, Hall with finally play with an elite center for the first time in his career. Eichel’s per-game scoring numbers have improved in each of his five NHL seasons and he has been a point-per-game or better for two years in a row. With Hall at his side, that trend will only continue. Barring an injury, both players have 100-point upside this season.

There is one factor that could interrupt the dynamic scoring potential of Hall and Eichel and that is a trade. Even with the dangerous duo, the Sabres are still unlikely to challenge for a playoff spot and Hall may find himself back on the trade block at the 2021 deadline. However, another smart move made by Hall and his camp was to get a No-Movement Clause on his one-year deal. Unlike the moves to New Jersey and Arizona that Hall had no say in, if a trade is made this year, it will have to be with his approval. Aware of now the deadline move to the Coyotes failed to help his market value, Hall will be careful to choose a team where he can continue to score while finally making a deep run in the playoffs.

Once he is finally a free agent once more, and almost certainly coming off a strong season barring unforeseen circumstances, Hall will also benefit from a market with less competing talent. The 2021 free agent class does not have an Alex Pietrangelo to overshadow Hall. Alex Ovechkin is the biggest potential name, but he will almost certainly re-sign with the Washington Capitals and if not will not command a major deal at 35 years old. Other top forwards include Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jaden Schwartz, Tomas Tatar, and veterans like Ryan Getzlaf, David Krejci, and soon-to-be Buffalo teammate Eric Staal. These are all fine players, but no one to rival Hall barring a breakout season. The defense and goalie markets are lacking any star players in their prime that could attract suitors away from spending on Hall.

Not only will he likely standout as the top free agent available, but Hall will also have more suitors who can afford his services. With more notice and time to plan for cap management, even a long-term, possibly double-digit AAV deal for Hall will be easier for teams to swallow. The need could be greater as well; the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft threatens to strip a number of teams of scorers and they may turn to Hall as the best possible replacement. Expansion also adds one more team to the mix, as the Seattle Kraken could not make a bigger splash in their first season than adding the free agent market’s biggest name.

And what about the possibility that Buffalo wants to keep Hall beyond this season? It may have been a different administration in charge, but the Sabres just recently showed a willingness to pay up for a player that they had invested in when they signed Jeff Skinner to an eight-year, $72MM contract after acquiring him via trade. While the Sabres may already have $19MM invested in Eichel Skinner per season for years to come, they were willing to include Hall to make that $27MM this season and might not shy away from $30MM+ per year for their top three forwards.

The future is bright for Hall one way or another. It may not have been the off-season result that he or anyone else expected at this time last year, but at this time next year Hall will very likely beginning the next stage of his career on a lucrative long-term deal. How he gets there will be one of the best stories to follow in the coming NHL season.

Several Teams Spoke With Buffalo About Jack Eichel

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When a franchise struggles for a long period of time and changes their general manager, installing someone with little front office experience, you can assume that the rest of the league takes flight like vultures to try and pick the roster clean of any talent. That’s exactly what seems to have happened in Buffalo when the Sabres made the move to fire Jason Botterill and hire Kevyn Adams as GM.

Bob McKenzie of TSN tweets that several teams including the New York Rangers called on the availability of Jack Eichel, though none of those conversations resulted in “trade traction” with Adams and the Sabres. McKenzie also makes sure to point out that neither the Sabres or Eichel himself have expressed any desire to part ways, in fact just the opposite appears to be true at the moment.

Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston tweets that he was told the Bruins were also one of the teams speaking with the Sabres regarding Eichel, though again these talks don’t seem to have gone anywhere.

It’s easy to imagine why other general managers will continue to poke at the Sabres on the status of Eichel. Not only is the 23-year-old center one of the best players in the NHL coming off an incredible 36-goal, 78-point campaign, but he’s also a $10MM ticket on a team that hasn’t played a postseason game since 2011 and is reportedly looking at working under a drastically reduced internal salary cap due to recent financial restrictions.

If Buffalo is going to turn things around, it’s hard to imagine it would be without Eichel leading the charge. The young forward is a true franchise talent that now has 337 points in 354 career games, despite often playing with an underwhelming roster. Even at that $10MM cap hit he likely represents excess value for the team, unlike some of his high-priced teammates (Jeff Skinner, who carries a $9MM cap hit through 2026-27, scored just 23 points this season).

All that said, Eichel has been quite clear in the past about his desire to win. His agent Peter Fish even re-upped that stance with McKenzie today, explaining that the star center doesn’t want out but is frustrated with the team’s results so far. If the Sabres can’t turn things around, this won’t be the last time that teams are calling about his availability or his name pops up in trade rumors.

2020 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.

Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:

Anaheim: Cam Fowler

Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston: Patrice Bergeron

Buffalo: Jack Eichel

Calgary: Travis Hamonic

Carolina: Jordan Staal

Chicago: Jonathan Toews

Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog

Columbus: Cam Atkinson

Dallas: Tyler Seguin

Detroit: Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl

Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky

Los Angeles: Trevor Lewis

Minnesota: Matt Dumba

Montreal: Carey Price

Nashville: Pekka Rinne

New Jersey: P.K. Subban

NY Islanders: Matt Martin

NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk

Philadelphia: Kevin Hayes

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby

San Jose: Evander Kane

St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly

Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn

Toronto: Mitch Marner

Vancouver: Alexander Edler

Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington: Garnet Hathaway

Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler

Sabres Fire GM Jason Botterill

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The Buffalo Sabres have relieved General Manager Jason Botterill of his duties after three years in the role, per a team release. Senior Vice President of Business Administration Kevyn Adams will take over as Botterill’s permanent replacement.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise as we’re just three weeks removed from ownership announcing a plan to keep Botterill in his role. Botterill joined the Sabres as a respected hockey mind from the Penguins organization.

Sabres’ owners Terry and Kim Pegula released a statement this morning with the news, reasoning the change thusly: “This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the General Manager of the Sabres. This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change.”

The statement goes on to thank Botterill for his time with the Sabres. During his three years span, Botterill signed star Jack Eichel to a long-term contract (8-years, $80MM), but the Sabres failed to finish higher than 6th in the Atlantic Division. This season, they finished 25th overall, just one spot out of the 24-team playoff. They haven’t reached the postseason since the 2010-2011 season – the longest active postseason drought in the NHL.

More changes could be afoot for the Sabres, as Botterill’s firing did not happen in a vacuum. Wholesale changes are being made to the Sabres’ hockey operations department. Assistant GM Randy Sexton as also let go by the club, per the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Steve Greeley was another casualty, tweets Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports, though Seravalli thinks Greeley and Sexton should have no trouble catching on with another organization.

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