The Buffalo Sabres seemed committed to the idea of making the playoffs this offseason; if the team is truly committed to such a goal, a move needs to be made, now.
It is a secret to exactly nobody that the Buffalo Sabres had their sights set on the playoffs before the 2016-17 season began.
Players discussed it. The coaches discussed it. And when Jack Eichel went down with an injury right before the regular season started, GM Tim Murray sounded pretty committed to doing whatever he could to keep his team competitive:
"Jack is not a replaceable player, so we have to try this internally. We’ll try some guys here and see how it goes. If it’s clearly not going to work, then I’ll have to get on the phone and make some calls."
That’s right: GMTM is on the record as saying he was willing to get on the phone and make some calls in order to make up for the absence of second-year center Eichel. That is not the talk of a GM who is content to let his team set up a permanent residence in the NHL’s ten-worst teams, is it?
Fast forward to today, and the Buffalo Sabres are, indeed, one of the NHL’s ten-worst teams, just like last season . . . and the season before that . . . and the season before that, and . . . . Yeah – you get the point. This team was not a competitive team when Eichel was injured, and GMTM did absolutely nothing to turn the tide. Now that Eichel is back, the Sabres are ever-so-slightly more competitive, which is to say, this team will be lucky to finish 14th in the Eastern Conference.
What happened to your “I’ll have to get on the phone and make some calls” talk, Tim?
Full disclosure: I don’t work for the Buffalo Sabres, so I cannot confirm whether or not GMTM has actually made calls in order to make this team better. However, given the absolute lack of tangible results, I’m assuming that even if he has made some calls, he either is not trying to hard (quite possible) or has not found anyone willing to make a deal just yet (less possible, but still worth keeping in mind). We can spend hours debating which of these scenarios is the most likely, but I try to avoid passing judgment on things I have no knowledge about – that’s fandom at its worst, so I won’t go there.
So regardless of whether GMTM has really made an effort to make a move, the reality of Buffalo’s 2016-17 season can be summed up with this Tweet:
Fun with the NHL's points system -- only four teams are currently below .500: BUF (.489), WPG (.479), ARI (.364), COL (.321).
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 19, 2017
Yes, Sabres fans: even with a points system that was designed to make the NHL look like a super-competitive league with very few bad teams, the Buffalo Sabres have managed to buck the trend and earn less than half of their points. That’s pretty impressive for a team that was talking about challenging for a playoff spot, and remember: even though I did not predict the Sabres would make the playoffs this season, I did foresee the team hovering around the 9-10 spot in the Eastern Conference.
All of which brings me to the point of this post: if the Buffalo Sabres were truly determined to try and make the playoffs this season, they absolutely need to make some sort of a move. Doing nothing right now is 100% out of the question, and should result in everyone in the front office being fired at the end of the 2016-17 season, yes, I just typed that. Because the decision to do NOTHING except roll with what we currently have is not just a complete insult to the fans: it is a sign that the Buffalo Sabres honestly have no idea how to build a successful team.
Now, when I say “make a move,” there are three things I have in mind:
- Pull a tank
- Replace Dan Bylsma
- Make a roster move (trade, prospects call up) with the hopes of saving the season
Personally, I don’t care which move the Sabres make at this point – and believe me, pulling a tank would require that the front office and coaching staff do something: this team has too much talent to wind up in the bottom three all by itself. Tanking, trying to trade for a legit top-4 blueliner, canning Bylsma – it’s all the same to me. All I care is that the Sabres brass realizes that why they have done is not enough, and change course NOW while there is still time.
I’m not sure if many fans are willing to watch the Sabres tank again, so options 2 and 3 are the ones that should generate the most conversation in the comments section below – would replacing Bylsma with a coach who encourages player creativity and who favors a more north-and-south style of play result in a team that more closely resembles the Toronto Maple Leafs, as I discussed earlier this week? – but the bottom line is this: if the Buffalo Sabres do NOTHING in the 1-2 weeks before and after the 2017 All-Star Game, you should begin wondering whether you will ever see playoff hockey in the 716 in your lifetime (that is, if you already have not!).
Next: Zemgus Girgensons, Buffalo's Version Of Where's Waldo?
This isn’t a case of a writer trying to be negative; this isn’t a case of someone wanting to rush the process. This is reality: the Buffalo Sabres are playing bad hockey, again, while a young team like the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing fast, exciting hockey that could very well earn them a playoff spot. Now that Buffalo fans really cannot use the “But we’re injured!’ excuse any longer, it is time for the Sabres organization to prove this team is not the hockey equivalent of the Buffalo Bills and . . . ah crap, never mind.