@boosbuzzsabres
The odds of head coach Phil Housley returning to the Sabres bench next season get longer with each loss. At present his Buffalo squad is five losses away (with five games remaining) from having the dubious distinction of being the first team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, something that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for his return.
That the latter two-thirds of this season has been a disaster is an understatement and in a results-based business is cause for dismissal in and of itself. The only saving grace Housley might have had is a team that's giving it's all but coming up short, similar to how much of the season played out last year save for some rough patches. However, many of Housley's players looked like they checked out on him weeks ago and with each passing game more seem to be headed that way, hence the 2-10-2 record in March. Although this may not be Housley's fault in totality, keeping him on board this season with his team deaf to what he's preaching is making matters worse and only perpetuates the Sabres losing culture.
At the end of last season general manager Jason Botterill faced the gathered media for his first-ever end of season presser as a GM and had to talk about another disaster, his Sabres 31st-place finish. The winds of Ryan O'Reilly's now infamous, "I lost my love for the game at times" quote was still swirling and Botterill's answer moving forward was to put the onus on his players to be ready for the following season. "We understand where we're at right now, there's a disappointment [but] I don't want to hear about how disappointed they are," he said, "I want to hear about what's going to change, what is the action plan moving forward."
Whelp, it will be interesting to see Botterill's action plan moving forward after a season where his team underachieved in even the most modest projections. In a situation where the overall record was a lost cause weeks (months?) ago, player development should have been the focus moving forward. Development has been a key word in Botterill's vernacular ever since taking the job in 2017 and when asked recently about how he felt his young players were developing at the NHL-level this season, Botterill rightly pointed to second-overall picks Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel as having progressed nicely with career years. However, even though Reinhart (22 yrs. old) and Eichel (21) are considered young by NHL standards, the question seemed to be directed moreso at players like 20 yr. old rookie Casey Mittelstadt, 21 yr. old Tage Thompson and 18 yr. old Rasmus Dahlin, none of whom could be said to have made great progress throughout the season.
Mittelstadt in particular struggled mightily while being thrown into a top-six center role after Botterill traded away O'Reilly, their No. 2 center, and never adequately filled the slot. The rookie center fresh out of the University of Minnesota got a taste of the NHL late last season and performed very well with a goal and four assists in six games. However, Botterill did point out at last year's presser that despite Mittelstadt scoring his first NHL goal, he did so in a losing environment. "Everyone talks about NHL experience," said Botterill last April, "and how valuable NHL experience is. It goes both ways. It was great that Casey Mittelstadt got his first NHL goal. That's a positive experience. But he lost five out of six games since he was up here."
That's right, el Capitan, think of the youngins.
Winger Victor Olofsson was recalled and played in his first-ever NHL game last night in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Olofsson played very well and looked at home in a battle of two teams who really didn't have much to play for in the standings. He had the primary assist on a nice feed to Jack Eichel and had some great looks that included dinging one off of the crossbar on a 3-on-1 for Buffalo.
Defenseman Will Borgen got his first taste of the NHL on Tuesday in Ottawa where the Sabres were embarrassed 4-0 by the last place Senators. Fellow rookie defenseman Lawrence Pilut got the call on Sunday, his third call-up of the season, and he's been a part of the last three losses. Pilut has played in 28 games for the Sabres this season and they're 9-15-4, which isn't too bad considering the team is 14-29-8 since he played his first game on November 30.
Alexander Nylander got his first call up to Buffalo this season on March 10 and he's appeared in nine games for the Sabres. They're 1-7-1 in those nine games.
Lest this might be misconstrued, I'm happy that Borgen and Olofsson got their first taste of NHL action. Same with Pilut. Sabres fans should also be happy that Nylander has been looking the part of a regular NHL'er who could have an impact in a top-six role, depending upon how he and his development goes. And it's also great for the Rochester Americans as these players can take their experiences back to the AHL and hopefully go on an extended playoff run. But there's a thing called "Buffalo flu" where Amerks players leave a winning environment with the AHL club, get caught up in a losing environment surrounding the Sabres and bring that back to Rochester with them. That's a cycle that needs to be broken as there's a large wave of young players either ready, or on the verge of being ready, to hit the big club beginning next season.
Regardless of what one might think of Housley and the position he was placed in when trying to turn around a losing franchise as a rookie head coach, and regardless of the fact that the Sabres will have fired their fifth coach in six years, it's best to think about that wave of youngins and it doesn't look as if Housley will, or should, be the one to look after them next season. Not with his track record this past season and two years overall.
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