Buffalo Sabres Clean House Firing Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray

By Djack

The Buffalo Sabres are wiping the slate clean yet again. Since Terry Pegula bought the team in 2011 they haven't had a winning season. I'm not counting 2011 because he bought them late in that season. After years of being horrible, acquiring high draft picks, and rebuilding for the future, they were ready to take that next step the past two years. They got better for sure, but it never materialized. After an improved 2015-16 season, the Sabres were expected to makes some noise this year with additions of young talent and free agent signings. Instead, they were just mediocre once again. The nail in coffin for Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray was failing to go above .500 in the past two seasons. Bylsma was once a Stanley Cup Champion coach, now it's starting to look more and more like he lucked into that position, inheriting a great Penguins team. Watching ownership burn it all down as a fan is never easy, although there's a lot to look forward to with this franchise. 

The Sabres are stocked with young talent. Jack Eichel is 20 years old and is already proving to be a top notch center in the NHL. The Sabres are loaded with young talent at the center position creating so much depth and balance through their lines. Ryan O'Reilly, 25, and Sam Reinhart, 21, are the other young stud centers that give this franchise hope for the future. Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe are going to make a very solid  defensive line for years to come for the Sabres, just gotta give them some time. Kyle Okposo is a veteran wing that's going to rack up a nice amount of points for your team, he's a former Islander so I can attest to that. Robin Lenher is a solid young goaltender, he isn't anything special, however he's above average in a league where it's hard to find consistently good goaltending. 

Sabres are a very capable team, under the right coaching and management they should easily be able to return the glory days of the organization. I'm talking the French connection joined with Danny Gare. They have plenty of young talent, I'm not sure if they'll really be able to make a splash in free agency, although they'll have another good pick in the NHL draft this year. The only perk of losing is that you get to acquire young talent if you scout properly. Don't worry Sabre fans you've never experienced winning a Stanley Cup, so it's like you don't even know what you're missing out on. I will say this, the Sabres certainly seem to have the young talent to start laying the foundation of a championship team. Just find the right coach to bring it all together.