After the Buffalo Sabres fired Lindy Ruff during the 2012-13 season, they struggled to find an adequate replacement for head coach. The team went to Ron Rolston, who was the interim head coach for the remainder of that season then named the permanent head coach in the offseason.
However, Rolston didn't last very long and was fired midseason to be replaced by Ted Nolan, who finished out that season but lasted only one more season. In 2015, the Sabres wanted experience and picked Dan Bylsma, but he struggled to find any success and was fired after two seasons.
The Sabres seemingly wanted a fresh start in 2017, so they brought in a new general manager with the hire of Jason Botterill and let him go and find his next head coach. He ultimately landed on Phil Housley, who at the time was an assistant coach of the Nashville Predators for the prior four seasons.
It seemed right from the start that the Sabres had their mind set up on Housley and didn't really do an exhaustive search. Which was surprising, as they had plenty of time with the Predators reaching the Stanley Cup Final and could have done their due diligence with candidates.
Rick Tocchet seemed like a perfect fit but didn't even get an interview with the Buffalo Sabres
One of the candidates that seemed like a logical fit but didn't have a chance was Rick Tocchet. At the time, he was an assistant head coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was the team that Botterill had come from and they were just coming off their second straight Stanley Cup.
As obvious as it seemed that he should be a candidate, Botterill and the Sabres didn't even hold an interview with Tocchet.
It was a clear miss, and Tocchet ended up getting a head coaching job with the Arizona Coyotes that summer. While the Coyotes didn't have a ton of success, they did finish above .500 in points percentage in his first two seasons and made the playoffs in his second.
Meanwhile, the Sabres struggled under Housley and had only 138 points total in two seasons. The Sabres once again continued the coaching carousel and fired Housley after his second season, and were on the hunt again for a new head coach.
When looking back at those two seasons, the best thing that came from them was that they got the first overall pick in 2018. They would use that pick on Rasmus Dahlin, and he continues to be a key part of the franchise to this day.
However, it is worth wondering if the Sabres' playoff drought would have gotten to 14 seasons if they had hired Tocchet instead of Housley or if they would have finally gotten that coaching stability they were desperately hoping for.
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