Reliving the Buffalo Sabres infamous playoff drought
The Buffalo Sabres missed the playoffs each season since 2010-11. Today, we will discover what caused the longest drought in NHL history.
The Buffalo Sabres could finally end their playoff drought in 2022-23. Last season, they proved they could win hockey games against just about any team when healthy, and that was with a young, inexperienced team and spotty goaltending.
This season, the Sabres are one year older, one season more experienced, and their goaltending is better than many believe, led this season by Eric Comrie. And while the Sabres probably won’t finish any higher than fourth in the Atlantic Division, wild card contention is not out of the question.
Today, I wanted to talk more not about the likelihood of the Sabres making the playoffs, but instead about their long playoff drought. What happened, exactly? How can Kevyn Adams and company avoid a similar fate as previous regimes? And what can Adams learn from the past? Let’s dive in.
The Buffalo Sabres have the longest playoff drought in NHL history, but it was not always this way.
Before their 11-season drought, John Fischer from All About the Jersey shared that the Sabres had never gone over three seasons without a playoff appearance. So what caused this franchise to miss the playoffs 11 years in a row?
From 2011-12 until the present day, there is one answer: Sheer franchise instability. Not a single coach lasted over two seasons with the club, and current head coach Don Granato can easily break that record now that stability finally looks as though it arrived through Kevyn Adams.
During this period, the Sabres have literally been the 2003-2019 Cleveland Browns of the NHL. Blown draft picks, constant turnover at coaching, bad signings, trades, you name it. And even worse – when you thought things had gotten bad enough, the Sabres found a new way to “impress” us.
The worst season of the drought…so far…
I’ll be upfront and say the worst is probably over, barring a massive injury bug in the near-future. But All About the Jersey pointed to the 2014-15 season. Here are a few statistics that back up this claim:
The Buffalo Sabres finished the season with a league-worst 54 points. Center Tyler Ennis led the team in points with 46 and goals with 20. Jhonas Enroth was the starting goaltender that season, and while he looked good at times earlier in his career, Enroth logged just a 0.903 save percentage, an 18-26-2 record, and a 3.27 GAA.
The Sabres shipped him to Dallas in February 2015 for a draft pick and goaltender Anders Linback. Funnily enough, the pick in question was used to select Casey Fitzgerald, who remains part of the team’s system today. Lindback was actually a bright spot despite his 4-8-2 record. He logged a 0.924 save percentage and a 2.76 GAA.
Curse of the Pegulas
RJ Night was by far the most celebrated event at the KeyBank Center last season and it brought positive vibes among the Buffalo Sabres faithful in attendance. Except when Terry Pegula took to the podium and a rain of boos followed.
Personally, I’m a fan of the Pegulas, given for what they have done for the Buffalo Bills – and it’s something that will come to the Sabres – but you still can’t blame the fans for being straight up irritated with them. Next to going through seven coaches, three general managers in Darcy Regier, Tim Murray, and Jason Botterill took charge before Kevyn Adams.
And Pegula is perhaps one reason the Sabres have been just flat out bad for the last 11 seasons, having given his general managers and coaches little room for error. Here’s the issue: Team owners are neither head coaches nor sports executives and they rarely make things better. And constantly firing people often digs franchises into deeper holes.
Most professional sports owners made their fortune elsewhere and they bought a franchise either because it was a lifelong dream, that they were a lifelong fan, or because they felt it was a sound investment. They know how to make money. But that doesn’t mean they are good at running a franchise.
Bad drafts and signings
The jury is still out on the likes of Jack Quinn, Owen Power, and J.J. Peterka, but all signs are pointing north. Yet outside of Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Eichel, the Buffalo Sabres hit on who, exactly? You could say Sam Reinhart, but he never lived to the expectations of a second overall pick.
While I think the golden trio listed at the top of this section will develop into sound players along with Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Asplund, Victor Olofsson, and Mattias Samuelsson, the team’s inability to draft has kept them in the doldrums. Casey Mittelstadt can’t stay healthy, Alexander Nylander was horrific, Brendan Lemieux never played for the Sabres, and Rasmus Ristolainen never quite lived to expectations.
Then there were bad signings. The Buffalo Sabres signed winger Ville Leino through the 2016-17 season, only to get three years and 46 points out of him. In 2018-19, the Sabres thought it was a good idea to inject $76.6 million into the team. What they got was 76 points.
They signed Jeff Skinner to a contract extension worth $72 million through the 2026-27 season. And while Skinner finally found his groove, he rewarded the Sabres with 37 points in 112 games between 2019-20 and 2020-21.
And you can’t forget about all the trades that took place. The upside is that the Ryan O’Reilly trade fetched Tage Thompson, the Eichel trade brought in a ransom, and the Reinhart trade gave the Sabres Devon Levi. But the common denominator is that none of the above wanted to play in Buffalo. Reinhart grew impatient, Eichel’s situation was a fiasco, and O’Reilly seemingly lost his passion for the game before winning a Stanley Cup in 2019.
Lessons Learned
If the longest drought in NHL history had any good news, it was that Kevyn Adams, Terry and Kim Pegula, and Don Granato can learn from past mistakes. They say those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, so for the Buffalo Sabres brass, looking back on what didn’t work gives them a blueprint of what not to do.
All About the Jersey stated the top lesson learned should not involve, “Selling out a team for a stud.” It’s why you didn’t see Adams make a large splash in free agency.
And perhaps the largest lesson we can learn is the infamous trickle-down effect. Regardless of whether we are talking about the Sabres, the Bills, or even an MLB or NBA franchise, everything rests at the top with ownership, and how their moves and decision-making will directly or indirectly affect their franchise’s system, draft strategy, and other roster transactions like free agency.
If you noticed anything this time around, it is that the Sabres have been conservative. They spent time building through the draft, promoting players through the system, and adding talent via free agency when they feel the need to. But adding free agents only to serve as stopgaps for when a younger player can move up and take the reins.
Related Story. Why the Sabres will end their playoff drought. light
Assuming Pegula learned his lessons, and he should have by now, the future can be bright for the Buffalo Sabres. These past few drafts have yielded better results. There has been no reckless spending lately, and there has finally been patience with a head coach who specializes in developing talent.
Article Source: A Look at NHL Playoff Droughts Part 1: New Jersey Devils, Anaheim to Buffalo by John Fischer