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Buffalo Sabres Management: Is Tim Murray’s Plan Still The Right One?

By Jacob D. Strozyk

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A couple of seasons ago, the Buffalo Sabres decided to end one of the worst eras in history by firing Darcy Regier. In his stead came a man promising to turn around the Buffalo Sabres in about five years. He promised success within 3-4 years as well. At the time I thought he was a bit of a madman for thinking in such a way. With only two seasons having passed, Tim Murray has only done his best to deliver on his promise.

Related – Should Tim Murray Be On The Hot Seat?

Just a couple of seasons ago, the Buffalo Sabres had one of the top prospect pools in the league. Boasting talent at all ends of the ice in their young prospects (at the time players like Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Joel Armia) the Sabres had a bright future ahead of them, but many were questioning how far away that future was.

Since Tim Murray has taken over the helm, he has acquired top level prospect talents in Sam Reinhart, Jack Eichel, and Hudson Fasching, and he is not looking back to reassess his choices. In his time here, he has weakened the depth pool as far as talented prospects go by trading away Grigorenko, Zadorov, Armia, Brenden Lemieux, and a number of first round picks. I found myself asking if Murray gave up too much future for a quicker turnaround.

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To determine if he did, let’s have a look at what players he got in return for his prospect pool. Evander Kane (former 4th overall pick), Zach Bogosian (former 3rd overall pick), Ryan O’Reilly, (former 2nd round pick, 33rd overall), and Robin Lehner (former 2nd round pick, 46th overall). All of these players are developed NHL players, and none of them are over the age of 25 so they still have youth on their side.

As opposed to having a very young and undeveloped pool of prospects, Murray has traded them for NHL ready talents that are proven great players. The young players he traded are not developed enough to see if his deals were steals or flops (but hey, hindsight is always 20/20 and time will always tell).

I for one have fought against some of the moves made by Tim Murray as the years have gone by (especially the Ryan O’Reilly trade), but for the good of the team both now and in the future he has made the right choices. There is a reason he was hired for the job and he is doing great work.

Is Tim Murray’s plan from a couple of seasons ago still the right one for the Buffalo Sabres? I would have to undoubtedly say yes. Murray made his team much more competitive and skilled at draft day as he got a top line center to play with Evander Kane, a number one goaltender, and his superstar of the future all in one night.

This season will be the most definitive test to see if improvements have truly been made or if the Buffalo Sabres are just a team that looks good on paper.

Next: Sabres Should Sign Lee Stempniak

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