When the Buffalo Sabres take the ice on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, Phil Houlsey's center rotation will consist of:
Jack Eichel (L1)
Ryan O'Reilly (L2)
Casey Mittelstadt (L3)
Evan Rodrigiues (L4)
Johan Larsson (L5)
That Jason Botterill. He's becoming one helluva general manager.
The rookie NHL GM of the Buffalo Sabres hasn't had many things to be cheerful about in his first season as the leader of the Buffalo Sabres. Botterill hasn't bitched nor has he complained about having to use the Shop Vac to clean up the mess that his predecessor Tim Murray left for him when he took the job last spring. Botterill is a realist. Rome wasn't built in a day. The Sabres rebuild has been slow and painful. Botterill continues to take his Tylenol and keeps his nose to the grind stone.
Botterill knew full well the mess that existed in Buffalo before he took the job. Rather than click on default to the glass-half-empty position, Botterill continues to accentuate all positives inside the Sabres organization.
Botterill and Phil Housley know and respect the fact that NHL teams have to lose before they can win. Botterill may be a rookie NHL GM, however he was a very successful assistant general manager of three Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins teams as well as the general manager of a perennial playoff team in Wilkes Barre Scranton.
Botterill knows it's not how a team starts the season. It's how it ends the season. Judging by the three young players he's added to his organization since Sunday afternoon, safe to say Botterill is feeling very positively about his Sabres right about now.
On Sunday, Botterill added prospect defenseman Will Borgen to the Rochester Amerks by way of amateur tryout contract. Borgen will be joined by prospect forward Judd Petersen who also signed an ATO to play for the Rochester Amerks. Both players are now in the mix to play for Chris Taylor in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Two nice moral victories for Botterill to be sure.
Botterill and Housley are building a winner in Buffalo. They are doing it with young, high-skill, high-paced, high IQ players.
On Tuesday, Botterill added super center/winger Casey Mittelstadt to the Sabres' impressive young talent pool. The 8th overall pick at the the 2018 NHL Draft will get his first NHL test run when Dylan Larkin and the dispappointing Detroit Red Wings clunk in to Buffalo on Thursday night. I predict a Mitteslatdt goal in his first NHL game played.
Mittelstadt said Tuesday that he appreciated the way Botterill gave him his time and space during his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. Botterill wasn't a high pressure sales guy. He supported Mittelstadt from afar. He kept in touch with his first ever NHL first round draft choice. Botterill didn't smother the kid. He gave him his freedom to develop and to drink in the college hockey experience. Botterill knows the merits of playing NCAA hockey having played four seasons for Red Berenson at the legendary Michigan Wolverines men hockey program. Botterill won an NCAA mens hockey championship with the Wolverines and appeared twice in the Frozen Four. Bottereill's experience and patience were his best teachers in reeling in the prize fish in Mittelstadt.
At hiss Tuesday presser, Mittelstadt said that working with Botterill was an easy process.
“We wanted it to be more of a partnership rather than like us two kind of clashing, going at it,” he said. “We wanted to figure out what was best for me. We kind of went through it and agreed on pretty much everything there. So it went pretty quick, pretty smoothly and obviously I’m definitely excited to be a Buffalo Sabre.”
Sabres fans who doubt Botterill's resolve and competitiveness as a businessman should consider this key point and reconsider their position. On Monday, Minnesota Gophers beench boss Don Lucia resigned his post. On Tuesday, former St. Cloud State mens hockey head coach Bob Motzko took the Minnesota job. Motzko coached Mittelstadt and Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo. Motzko must have been thinking his chances were excellent to convince the rock star to stay and play his sophomore season at Minny. Motzko never got the chance because Botterill closed the deal an hour before Motzko was announced as teh new bench boss of the Gophers.
Coffee is for closers like Jason Botterill.
Mittestadt says he enjoyed the collaboration with Botterill and his AGM Steve Greeley.
“I wanted to make sure the decision I came to I had both feet in,” he said. “Obviously, I took a few days, almost a week, to decide what I wanted to do. It came up over and over again both my feet were in to go pro and play in the NHL.”
What a masterful stroke by the "rookie" general manager.
What he lacks in grey hair and experience in the GM seat, Botterill more than makes up for in patience, persistence, intel, and people skills. In my opinion, Tim Murray could never have executed such a sophisticated, high-risk, high yield business transaction. All due respect to Murray. He is a horse trader who follows his gut. Botterill is a cut above Murray in that regard.
Botterill received his Masters of Business Administration from The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2007. Following his playing career, he worked with the NHL Offices and the NHL Central Registry and spent the 2006–2007 season as a scout for the Dallas Stars.
On July 17, 2007 the Pittsburgh Penguins announced Jason's hiring as director of hockey administration. His main responsibilities included monitoring the salary cap and contract research and negotiations, but also worked with salary arbitration and preparation as well as scouting. Botterill was promoted by the Penguins to assistant general manager on May 22, 2009. He replaced Chuck Fletcher, who was named General Manager of the Minnesota Wild on the same day. In The Hockey News 2011 edition of the 100 Most Powerful people in ice hockey, Botterill was considered one of the Top 40 under the age of 40. In May 2014, Botterill was named as interim GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins and as a candidate for the full position. In 2014 Jim Rutherford was named GM of the Penguins. Botterill was promoted to AGM of the Penguins.
For Botterill, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
When he won three Stanley Cups in ten seasons in Pittsburgh, the Penguins did so with a center rotation that consisted of Crosby-Malkin-JStaal-Kennedy, and, Crosby-Malkin-Bonino-Cullen.
Though he doesn't have Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin Versions 2.0, what he does have is a generational, All Star legit number one center in Jack Eichel and a puck hog of a 200 by 85 foot center in O'Reilly. Mix in a speed demon of a play making third center in Casey Mittelstadt, and, a blazing point producing pivot in Evan Rodrigues, the Sabres are in very, very good shape at center ice moving forward.
Mittelstadt made the correct choice. Buffalo badly needs his unique blend of youthful enthusiasm, world-class speed, deft play making, dogged compete level and his bomb of a shot.
Buffalo's young, skilled core is the crust or foundation for a tasty hockey pizza. Add Mittelstadt
to an organizational crust that includes Eichel, Samson Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Evan Rodrigues, Brendan Guhle, Casey Nelson, Linus Ullmark, Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, Alex Nylander, Will Borgen C.J. Smith, Hudson Fasching and Danny O'Regan.
The Buffalo Sabres have come a long way under Jason Botterill's leadership. If his Rochester Amerks make a deep run and end up winning the Calder Cup, that would add even more confidence to the Buffalo youth movement.
Jack Eichel took Mittelstadt to lunch on Tuesday. Mitteslstadt will be following Eichel like his shadow until the summer begins. I can see Eichel and Mittelstadt playing on a line together at the IIHF World Championships in Denmark in May.
Don't look now, but Botterill has an ace up his sleeve in a high lottery pick. Today, the Sabres are in 31st place in the NHl. That means Botterill owns an 18.5% chance of winning the lottery to select Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall at the NHL Draft in June. If the Sabres don't land Dahlin, they will be selecting another rock star prospect forward in Andrei Svechnikov, Brady Tkachuk, Filip Zadina or defenseman Adam Boqvist.
Thanks, Sabres.com
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