Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres announced the firing of general manager Jason Botterill on Tuesday and named Kevyn Adams as his replacement.

Team owners Terry and Kim Pegula said in a statement:

"This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the General Manager of the Sabres. This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change.

"We wish Jason and his family all the best moving forward, and we thank him for his time and energy devoted to our organization and to the City of Buffalo."

Botterill spent the past three seasons as the Sabres' general manager. The team missed the playoffs each of those years and has not made the postseason since 2010-11. Buffalo has finished no better than sixth in the Atlantic Division since it was created in 2013-14.

Adams has served in several roles within the Sabres organization and was most recently the senior vice president of business administration. He played for six teams during his 10-year NHL career. He does not have any experience as a lead decision-maker in a hockey organization.

The New Jersey Devils are trading veteran forward Wayne Simmonds to the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional 2021 fifth-round draft pick.

New Jersey announced the move Monday after TSN's Frank Seravalli first reported the deal, who noted the pick can become a fourth-rounder.

Simmonds has eight goals and 16 assists through 61 games this season. This is the second straight year in which he was moved ahead of the trade deadline after the Philadelphia Flyers sent him to the Nashville Predators.

The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun noted the Devils are on the hook for half of Simmonds' $5 million salary-cap hit for 2019-20. The 31-year-old is an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

Buffalo is trying to make a playoff push in the stretch run. Simmonds is unlikely to significantly improve the Sabres' postseason odds, though.

The team is eight points off the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and six points behind the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.

Acquiring Simmonds didn't come at a significant cost to the Sabres, though, and he's an upgrade for their attacking unit. The right wing's point total ranks fifth among Buffalo's forwards. 

Still, the Sabres may have little to show from the move should Simmonds move on in the offseason since getting into the playoffs is far from a guarantee.

Should Buffalo make a deep postseason run, general manager Jason Botterill will have the last laugh.

The Buffalo Sabres landed a high-scoring center with the selection of Dylan Cozens at No. 7 overall in the 2019 NHL draft Friday night.

After emerging as a threat for the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes in 2017-18, Cozens truly broke out in 2018-19 with career highs across the board, which put him on the radar as a potential top-10 pick in the NHL draft.

In 68 games, Cozens racked up 34 goals and 50 assists for 84 points to go along with a plus-32 rating. That represented a significant improvement on his 22 goals, 31 assists and minus-six rating the previous season.

Cozens ranked a somewhat modest 10th in points during the 2018-19 regular season, but given the fact that he is on an upward trajectory and possesses good size (6'3" and 183 pounds), it seems likely there is plenty of untapped potential remaining.

Although Cozens doesn't come close to checking as many boxes as the likes of Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko in the 2019 draft class, he is part of the next wave of prospects with a chance to make a big impact at the NHL level in the coming years.

Cozens may need a bit more seasoning before he is ready for the NHL unlike the aforementioned players, and that would allow him to turn in a truly dominant season at Lethbridge prior to making the jump.

The Sabres will have the option of allowing him to play nine games next season before sending him back to the WHL without burning a year on its entry-level contract if they so choose, which may be the best course of action if Cozens shows in training camp that he is at least deserving of a look.

Cozens can afford to grow into his frame a little bit more, and once that happens, he has 30-to-40-goal potential as a power forward due to his combination of size and soft hands.

While Cozens is far from a slam-dunk selection, his skill set is impressive, and it could lead to him being one of the top players to come out of the draft not named Hughes or Kakko.

The Sabres own the NHL's longest active playoff drought at eight seasons, and they are desperate to make it back to the playoffs in the near future.

Cozens could play a role in that endeavor in the next year or two alongside a promising group of players, including forwards Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Casey Mittelstadt, Alexander Nylander and Victor Olofsson as well as defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Ristolainen.

The pieces are in place for the Sabres to return to prominence, and it is possible that Cozens could be the player who brings it all together due to his immense skill and playmaking ability.

The Buffalo Sabres and Jeff Skinner have agreed to an eight-year extension that will pay $9 million in average annual value, the team announced Friday night.

The 27-year-old center arrived to Buffalo through a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in August. Skinner was drafted seventh overall by the Hurricanes in 2010, and he spent his first eight years in the NHL there. 

In his one season as a Sabre, Skinner played in 82 games and scored 40 goals—a career and team high—dished 23 assists and accumulated 63 points. Sabres PR added that Skinner's 40 goals were good for the third-highest total recorded by a first-year Sabre, while his 32 even-strength goals are the most by a first-year player in franchise history.

Skinner was slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. However, earlier this week, Sabres general manager Jason Botterill confirmed that retaining Skinner was the team's top priority. 

"I've said through the whole process, both sides want to get a deal," Botterill said, according to NHL.com's Heather Engel. "I think it's been a very good relationship from the Buffalo Sabres' standpoint. I also think it's been a very good relationship from Jeff's standpoint."

Botterill added:

"I understand people always want a deal as of yesterday. I think there's just an urgency because we've always wanted the player. We've always wanted to have him back. We want him to be part of our group moving forward here and we've always continued to try to look at our group and try and add to our group versus trying to replace."

Locking in Skinner comes less than a month after the Sabres hired former Edmonton Oilers skipper Ralph Krueger as their 19th coach in franchise history. As soon as the 59-year-old arrived, Botterill informed him of the plan to keep Skinner in-house, per the Associated Press (h/t USA Today). 

Even with Skinner's contributions in 2018, the Sabres finished 13th in the Eastern Conference at 33-39-10, with just 76 points. This led to the firing of second-year coach Phil Housley. Buffalo has missed the postseason for eight consecutive seasons, the longest active drought in the NHL. 

With Skinner officially inked, the new regime can focus on righting the ship with its star player onboard.  

The Buffalo Sabres announced the hiring of Ralph Krueger as their new head coach Tuesday.

Krueger will replace Phil Housley, who was fired in April after going just 58-84-22 (.421 points percentage) in two seasons at the helm in Buffalo.

The 59-year-old Krueger spent one lockout-shortened season as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 2012-13, going 19-22-7 and failing to reach the playoffs.

In a statement on the Sabres' official website, Krueger said: "I am excited and honored to join the Buffalo Sabres family and will strive to maximize the potential that lies within this team. I look forward to building on the many positives that have been established within the organization, and I am especially eager to get behind the bench and represent this passionate hockey city."

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill added: "Throughout his career, Ralph has shown the ability to adapt to a variety of high-pressure environments while leading some of the world's elite players. His strong communication skills, leadership and diverse background make him a uniquely qualified candidate to lead our team going forward."

After getting fired by the Oilers in 2013, Krueger served as the chairman of Southampton Football Club in the English Premier League for more than five seasons.

His hockey involvement during that time had been somewhat limited, although he did help lead the Canadian men's hockey team to gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, as a consultant, and he also served as the head coach for Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, leading them to a surprising second-place finish.

Per Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Krueger had told TSN's Pierre LeBrun that he likely would not return to the NHL in a head coaching capacity:

On Wednesday, LeBrun noted that Krueger told him: "My heart has made this 'back to coaching' decision. All the pieces fit together on this opportunity."

While Krueger has limited NHL head coaching experience and has been out of the league for several years, former Sabres winger Thomas Vanek believes it is a great hire, telling John Vogl that Krueger is a "huge, huge get."

In Buffalo, Krueger will take over a team with the NHL's longest active playoff drought (since 2010-11). The Sabres have a talented core that includes 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel and 2018 No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin, but they have been unable to put it all together. Still, while Buffalo faltered down the stretch this season, the team improved significantly from the season prior (62 points to 76).

Krueger has a great deal of experience coaching in Europe, and with the Sabres having several key European players such as Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen, Linus Ullmark, Alexander Nylander and Victor Olofsson, Krueger could prove to be a strong fit in Buffalo.

The Buffalo Sabres have reportedly fired head coach Phil Housley, according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.

Under Housley, the Sabres managed just 62 points last season and 76 points this campaign, missing the postseason in 2018-19 by 22 points. They were 33-39-10 overall this season. 

One issue in Buffalo was Housley's lineup decisions, as Harrington noted:

"The constant line juggling was a sore spot with his players. You can do all the tinkering you want at practice but when you get into a game, players want you to keep the lines running together for at least a game or two to see if chemistry develops. Too often, Housley would have some new trios and they would be gone by the second period."

While Housley wasn't handed the most talented roster, he also failed to get the most out of his players. For a Buffalo team that has failed to reach the postseason since the 2010-11 campaign, a change was needed. 

The fear for many Sabres fans is that the team has yet to build a contender around young star Jack Eichel, who has another strong season in 2018-19 (28 goals, 54 assists). Eichel has scored 24 or more goals in all four of his NHL seasons, and he improved his playmaking this season, notching 15 more assists than he offered in 2017-18.

In Eichel and promising young blue-liner Rasmus Dahlin, the Sabres have foundational pieces in place. But surrounding them with more talent—and finding a head coach that will make the most of that talent—is a must for general manager Jason Botterill.

Otherwise, he may suffer the same fate as Housley.