Are Terry and Kim Pegula about to hire Jason's Botterill as their next Buffalo's Sabres general manager?
On Sunday, Pegula said he was "close" to hiring the successor to Tim Murray.
Elliotte Friedman tweeted this morning that Botterill has gotten a second interview.
No other GM candidate has received a call back to meet with the Pegulas for a second time.
Botterill, 40, has been busy the past 48 hours trying to replace Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup for Game 4 and beyond. Crosby and Sheary both suffered concussion in Game 3 vs. the Washington Capitals.
Two weeks ago, my sources tell me to double down on Botterill.
Obviously, there is no way that Botterill would or could accept a new Buffalo GM job while his Pittsburgh team is deep in the fight for a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
Botterill, 40, has worked with the Penguins since 2007-2008 and in that time has ascended the team’s ranks from director of hockey administration to assistant GM to his current role as associate GM. Botterill is also GM of the Penguins’ top minor league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He has been part of the Penguins leadership group that led them to two Stanley Cups as well as one additional Cup Final in his Pittsburgh tenure.
Botterill is a respected cap guru of the Penguins. Botterill gives Jim Rutherford the cap space needed to make player acquisitions and trades to the Pens. Botterill has a knack for making the money work out. Botterill has been tasked with adding players to augment and support Sidney Crosby and Geno Malikn. I'd say that Botterill has had the Midas Touch.
Botterill plays a prominent role on the development of Penguins players. Working heavily with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Connor Sheary, Matt Murray, Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin, Jake Guentzel, Tom Kuhnhackl and other kids were ready for prime time when called upon last season during the regular season when injuries wreaked havoc with the NHL roster.
On Tuesday, Botterill was forced to dip into his Wilkes Barre/Scranton talent pool to recall the injured Crosby and sheary.
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I'm told that Botterill has two head coaching prospects that he can tap as his bench boss in Buffalo.
Rick Tocchet and Clark Donatelli.
Tocchet is Mike Sullivan's assistant coach in Pittsburgh.
Tocchet became an assistant coach for the Colorado Avalanche in 2002–03. In the summer of 2005, he became an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes. In December 2005, Tocchet took over as interim head coach for Phoenix, stepping in while head coach Wayne Gretzky was out on an indefinite leave of absence due to his mother's illness (and subsequent passing). The team went 2–3–0 under Tocchet. Gretzky eventually resumed his duties.
Tocchet was named as the associate coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning in July 2008.
Tocchet was named the interim head coach of the Lightning, replacing Barry Melrose who was fired after compiling a 5–7–4 record in the first five weeks of the season. Tocchet was signed to a two-year contract by the Lightning. He was relieved of his coaching duties by the new ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. In June 2014 Tocchet was hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins to be an assistant coach.
Donatelli is the current head coach of the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Clark Donatelli joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as head coach on Dec. 22, 2015 after spending four seasons as the head coach of the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL).
Donatelli, 50, is Wheeling’s all-time leader in coaching wins, posting an overall record of 147-119-10-22. He is also the only coach in Nailers history to take the team to consecutive playoff appearances.
More to come.....