Buffalo Sabres: Phil Housley already on the hot seat

Phil Housley might only be approaching his second season as coach of the Buffalo Sabres, but the pressure is already building on him to win.

Most coaches are given a certain grace period when they take over a professional sports team. The situation was no different for Phil Housley, when he became head coach of the Buffalo Sabres ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.

However, these days it seems like there is less patience when it comes to turning around the fortunes of a team. Again, this is unfortunately no different for Housley.

There is no denying the 54-year-old was walking into an unenviable position when he became the Sabres’ main man. The team had been a disaster the six previous seasons; some of it by design, some not so much

Yes, the Sabres intentionally tanked it their efforts to win the Connor McDavid sweepstakes. However, even after ‘settling’ for Jack Eichel, the rebuild has taken much longer than anticipated.

Along with drafting Eichel, hiring a Stanley Cup-winning coach gave Sabres fans reason for optimism. However, it turned out to be a false dawn.

Dan Bylsma did a decent enough job during his first season in charge, However, the 2016-17 campaign was a disaster, not helped with speculation of a divide between Bylsma and some of his younger players, including Eichel.

Following the firing of Bylsam, the Sabres decided to take a different approach and go for someone less experienced. This took them in the direction of Housley.

The Saint Paul, Minnesota native wasn’t entirely inexperienced. His resume included stints with Team USA (coaching them to gold medal at the 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship) and as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators.

It also helped that Housley had a long association with the Sabres. They picked him sixth overall in the 1982 draft and he played eight NHL seasons with them, on his way to eventually being named to the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Unfortunately for the former blue-liner, his first season in charge didn’t go remotely to plan. By the end of the 2017-18 campaign, the Sabres found themselves in last place for the third time in five years.

Arguably worse, Housley’s expertise as a defensive coach had little impact, even allowing for the deficiencies of the roster at his disposal. The 280 goals allowed were the most by the Sabres since the 1992-93 season.

Again, some allowance has to be made for the lack of depth and talent on the roster. The final standing also showed that maybe it wasn’t as much Bylsma’s fault, as some of the younger players wanted us to believe.

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At least it caused management to wake up and make some big changes to try and change the culture of the team during the offseason. The biggest change was the decision to trade away Ryan O’Reilly.

In addition, the Sabres made some key additions to improve the talent, experience and overall depth of the roster. This included trading for the likes of Jeff Skinner, Carter Hutton and Patrik Berglund.

It helped that the Sabres finally caught a break in the draft lottery. As a result, they were able to select Rasmus Dahlin, who has been described as a franchise-changing blue-liner.

Throw in an impressive array of young talent, such as Eichel, Casey Mittelstadt, Sam Reinhart and Tage Thompson and this is a team finally ready to challenge. Which brings up back to Housley.

Whether it’s admitting by the organisation or not, the pressure is now on the seven-time All-Star to get them back on track. There has to be significant improvement from the team this coming season.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Buffalo Sabres have to qualify for the playoffs. However, they have to at least make a concerted challenge, to show they’re heading in the right direction.

If, however, the team stagnates or only shows slight improvement, you have to wonder about Housley’s future in Buffalo, even after just two seasons. Fair or not, this is one of the pressures that now comes with modern day professional sports.

Do you agree that Housley is already under pressure in Western New York? Or do you believe he will still be given plenty of time to turn around the Buffalo Sabres’ fortunes? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.