Breaking up Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram is backfiring on Don Granato

After coming to the Buffalo Sabres, Bowen Byram made an immediate impact. The Sabres got the talented defenseman in exchange for forward Casey Mittelstadt. Even though the team parted ways with their leading point-getter, they got something they lacked and that's defense.

During his first few games, Byram was scoring goals and getting assists. He was playing alongside Rasmus Dahlin and the two created a dangerous top defensive pairing. For whatever reason though, Sabres head coach Don Granato split the two up. Recently, Dahlin has been playing alongside Owen Power while Byram had Henri Jokiharju as his partner.

While Dahlin is doing fine with Power, Byram has been struggling as of late. In yesterday's loss against the Detroit Red Wings, Jokiharju was a -2 while Bowen was a -1. Back when Buffalo defeated the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night, both Byram and Jokiharju were a -1 respectively.

Another example was when the Sabres lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs where once again Byram and Jokiharju were -1. Other than the victory against the New Jersey Devils where both Henri and Bowen were a +2, the lackluster performance where Buffalo lost to the Ottawa Senators had Byram being a -2 while Jokiharju was a -3.

This is why fans are starting to lose confidence in Granato, with decisions like this. Buffalo finally had a top pairing but for whatever reason, Granato broke it up and it's backfired ever since, specifically for Byram. Ever since he got paired with Jokiharju, he has not looked like the player when he first came to the Sabres.

Again, this is why Sabres fans like me are growing impatient with Granato. Buffalo was doing well when Dahlin and Byram were together. I don't understand the logic of separating Rasmus and Bowen when it was working for the team.