Buffalo Sabres Rebuilding Again After Firing Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray

Terry Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, announced Thursday morning that general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma were fired.

The Buffalo Sabres shocked the NHL world on Thursday morning by firing both general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma. In a statement, Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula said:

"“After reviewing the past season and looking at the future of our organization, Kim and I have decided to relieve General Manager Tim Murray and Head Coach Dan Bylsma of their duties. We want to thank Tim and Dan for their hard work and efforts that they have put in during their tenures with the club. We wish them luck. We have begun the process to fill these positions immediately.”"

Murray and Bylsma were tasked with bringing the Sabres on an upward trajectory from rebuild to playoffs and after three years have failed to do so.

What is interesting is the timing of the announcement. Bylsma spoke to the media after the season ended, as did Murray, who was particularly non-committal on his or Bylsma’s future, saying only that they were in their jobs as of ‘today’.

By letting Murray and Bylsma face the media and go through the exit-interviews, it seemed as though there was a chance they would have kept their jobs. Otherwise, they would have been dismissed in a similar fashion as Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter were in Los Angeles. Obviously, the information compiled in these meetings was not enough to convince Pegula they should remain.

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It was well-known that Sabres players — and most importantly Jack Eichel — had issues with Bylsma and his systems. A report was released on Wednesday, claiming Eichel would refuse to sign a contract if the coach remained. That report was vehemently denied by Eichel himself, when he spoke with John Vogl of The Buffalo News.

The truth has gotten in the way of the narrative here, as it would be futile for Eichel to say those things if Bylsma and Murray were to be fired less than 24 hours later. It seems Eichel is only guilty of not accepting the losing culture in the Sabres organization.

Murray’s dismissal will come as more of a shock, especially after he was given a multi-year extension in October. The general consensus was that Murray had a very strong draft last summer in Buffalo.

Alexander Nylander, Rasmus Asplund and Casey Fitzgerald were all taken in the first three rounds. All three went to the World Junior Championships that winter.

When it comes to trades, the bulk of Murray’s trading was to sell-off the Sabres team in order to get Eichel. When it came to getting to the playoffs, his two biggest additions were for Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane.

As with all trades, there are so many moving parts and it’s difficult to gauge who came out the winner. It seems as though Murray at worst broke even on his return in those cases.

The next step for the Pegula’s will be filling these roles with the right people. One of Pegula’s first moves, when he bought the team, was to bring in a director-of-hockey-operations. I’d expect a similar appointment this time, as Murray had only the Pegulas above him in the food chain.

Names such as Lombardi and former Sabres captain Chris Drury are being mentioned in the general manager discussion. Alternatively, both could be hired, with the veteran Lombardi as director and up-and-comer Drury as his GM.

The one hot candidate for the coaching job is Eichel’s former coach at Boston University, David Quinn. With the Sabres star being disgruntled under the last coach, this would eliminate any repeat scenario.

Former Sabres defenceman and Hockey Hall of Fame Member Phil Housley has done a terrific job as assistant coach of the Nashville Predators. It would be hard to imagine him not being at least interviewed.

Next: Jack Eichel Ultimatum Seal's Dan Bylsma's Fate

Ultimately, a winning culture comes from the top and that starts with the ownership. The Pegula’s will have to take a step back and look at their own involvement in the team and how they have affected the Buffalo Sabres in the last six years. It is crucial that mistakes aren’t repeated, for fear of wasting Eichel and his young teammate’s prime years.

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