The Buffalo Sabres would just love for this season to end. It started horribly, with the team losing five straight and seven of eight games to begin this season, and hasn’t gotten any better. What was supposed to be the team’s first real chance at making a playoff run in years has instead turned into an unmitigated disaster.
The question now becomes how general manager Jason Botterill can pull out something salvageable from a burning dumpster fire. Despite the record — and the individual performances — the Sabres do have some pieces that playoff contenders are going to covet. For Botterill and the rest of Buffalo’s front office, the main task from now until this year’s trade deadline in March is to make some trades that can turn around the team’s fortunes in the immediate future.
The most important order of business for the first-year GM is to get something worthwhile for impending free agent forward Evander Kane. Kane, who the Sabres acquired at the trade deadline themselves several seasons ago, has been one of Buffalo’s few bright spots this season. He leads the team with 16 goals, has 35 points, and has been one of the few players that head coach Phil Housley can count on giving him 100 percent night in and night out. Even if the Sabres had put together a winning season though, it was going to be extremely tough to re-sign Kane in the offseason. With the way he’s played on a losing team, he deserves a rich contract, and the Sabres just aren’t in a position to give him one.
The team’s current financial situation is quite messy. Buffalo will be paying seven players at least $5 million next season. That includes Matt Moulson, currently playing in the AHL, and Zach Bogosian, who has one assist and has only appeared in 17 games this year.
Kyle Okposo, scheduled to earn $6 million next year, is having the worst season of his career with just six goals and 19 points through 40 games. This is where Botterill’s job becomes extremely difficult.
If one, or any, of those other high-priced players besides Kane were putting together decent campaigns, Botterill would’ve probably been able to make at least one trade by now.
However, playoff-bound teams like the PIttsburgh Penguins, who could really use some forward depth, have no interest in taking on those big cap hits for what has been limited production.
The Sabres do have several attractive upcoming free agents that should serve as rental players, including Benoit Pouliot, Jacob Josefson, Josh Gorges and Justin Falk. While that list of players isn’t going to intimidate anyone, it’s a list of cheap, productive players that could also use a change of scenery. Botterill should have no issues getting some later round draft selections for Pouliot and Gorges, two veterans with postseason experience.
Then there’s the issue in the crease. Is Robin Lehner good, is he bad, or is he a good goalie stuck on a bad team? The 26-year-old is in his third season with the organization, and presents somewhat of a Tyrod Taylor conundrum to me.
He’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end, meaning the Sabres will have their chance to bring him back, but is that really what’s best for the team? His stats have been shaky at best, but he has kept his team in plenty of games this season. He goes through rough stretches where he seems to have the goaltending yips, which presents a problem for trying to establish any consistency.
The good news is that Buffalo seems to have their goaltending answer of the future waiting in the AHL. Linus Ullmark, a 2012 draft pick of the Sabres, has spent three seasons perfecting his game with Rochester. Ullmark has taken a big leap in his game this year, ranking sixth in goals against average and fourth in save percentage. Although solid AHL players don’t always translate well into the pros, Ullmark has also fared well during his limited appearances with the Sabres over the years.
The bottom line is that as much as Botterill and the Sabres would love to have a fire sale and move some of those big pieces, it just doesn’t seem plausible. However, with several smart, balanced trades, Botterill can begin to stockpile picks and even acquire some players that will be part of a desperate turnaround that should take place next year.
All eyes will be on the Sabres as the season winds down, but yet again it won’t be for the product on the ice. You’d be hard-pressed to find a general manager in the NHL who has to face more challenges than Botterill, and these next few months will begin to define his legacy in Buffalo.
