Updated:
Today is as good as any for Tim Murray to hire his next head coach. The Stanley Cup playoffs are on hiatus until Rangers-Bolts play their seventh and deciding game on Friday night. The hiring won't get buried in the 24 hour news cycle.
Hiring Dan Bylsma makes sense from a logistics standpoint. Bylsma and his wife are presumably still in Buffalo after their Wednesday night dinner with the Pegulas, Murray, et al.
Also, the Pegulas will be hosting the NHL community at thebdraft combine. Jack Eichel and the top draft eligible prospects will be in Buffalo beginning Monday June 1.
Murray likely wants to have his new coach hired and introduced at a media gathering today, tomorrow or Saturday so as not to undermine the Buffalo-hosted combine.
Stay tuned for more...
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Buffalo & Bylsma A Fit?
http://t.co/QVuStvbffU pic.twitter.com/LAcYNSCalG
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) May 28, 2015Dan Bylsma’s visit to Buffalo went longer than expected on Wednesday. The former Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss met with Sabres GM Tim Murray earlier in the day.
Later that night, he accompanied Murray, Terry and Kim Pegula, Sabres President Ted Black and others to a local restaurant for dinner.
This video, was shot by WKBW in Buffalo---the same TV station to catch record video proof of the Mike Babcock Mother’s Day interview with the Sabres. Shawn Stepner is reporting that a deal between the Sabres and Bylsma is “imminent….
Thanks, WKBW
You'll recall that the Pegulas and Black have strong ties to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. They know many of the same people that Bylsma knows. The vetting process with Bylsma would have been simpler for the Sabres due to their strong relationships in The Burgh front office.
In the actual sit down portion of the interview, Bylsma must have check all of Tim Murray’s boxes in terms of his ability to sell the Buffalo GM on his methods and best practices for teaching, mentoring and coaching a team on the rebuild.
What may have swayed Murray and the Sabres in Bylsma’s direction is that he has had success coaching generation players in Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin in Pittsburgh, where the Pens won a Stanley Cup under Blysma in 2009.
Bylsma served as Jack Eichel’s assistant coach for Team USA’s bronze medal winning squad at the IIHF USA World Championships in Ostrava and Prague in the Czech Republic. It’s no secret that the Sabres will be selecting Eichel with the second overall pick at the NHL Draft in Sunrise, Florida in June. Bylsma also served as a color commentator for Team USA broadcasts on the NHL Network at the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships in Montreal and Toronto this past December and January. Bylsma would have had a coach’s view of two superb Sabres prospects in Hudson Fasching and J.T. Compher.
Bylsma was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2008-2014. When the Pens fired Mike Therrien at the midway point of the 2009 season, Bylsma took over the program and guided the young Pens squad to the Stanley Cup championship.
Bylsma won the 2011 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best coach.
Bylsma was also the head coach of Team USA’s Olympic team in 2014.
Tim Murray and Bylsma are familiar with one another having been employed by the Anaheim Ducks at the same time. Murray was the director of player personnel with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2003-04 when Bylsma was winding down his NHL playing career.
After a three week courtship with Mike Babcock ended with the former Detroit Red Wings bench boss accepting an 8 year, $50 million contract to become head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The New Jersey Devils are in need of a new head coach and have also been granted permission by Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford to interview Bylsma, who is still under contract with the Penguins for one more season.
The Sabres or Devils will have to give the Pens draft choice compensation should they hire Bylsma.
Rutherford is also looking to make a trade to get his hands on a 2015 first round draft choice. Rutherford traded his 2015 first rounder and grit grinder Rob Klinkhammer to Edmonton in exchange for top nine forward David Perron.
Rutherford may want from Murray a third rounder for Bylsma and Buffalo's 21st overall pick (NYI) in June draft. The Sabres are looking for a top six forward and Brandon Sutter fits that bill.
My take on Bylsma:
This development doesn't surprise me at all. Bylsma is a respected hockey man with an excellent body of work to his credit. His time in Pittsburgh defined him as an NHL head coach. He was able to maximize many of player resources that he was given to work with.
Under Bylsma, the Penguins finished in first place in their division three times and in second place twice. Bylsma’s Pens made playoffs every year. They lost in the first round twice, second round twice, and Eastern Conference Finals once.
Byslma's Penguins team finished with 100+ points in his four full seasons behind the bench in Pittsburgh. The Pens earned 72 points in the 48 game lockout shortened season.
Some would say that Bylsma simply had to fill out the game roster and that Sid, Geno, Kunitz, Letang, Orpik, and Fleury did all of the heavy lifting in Pittsburgh. Partially true. Having two Hall Of Fame, generational players in 87 and 71 in the lineup makes a coach's job very easy. You show me a couple of young, high-scoring, MVP candidates, I'll show you a great head coach.
NHL Free Agency and the salary cap really put a crimp in the Penguins ability to compete for multiple Stanley Cups. Their former GM Ray Shero and owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux opted to trade young assets away for older, more experienced NHL vets to augment their young core players (Bill Guerin, Marian Hossa, Gary Roberts, Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, etc.). The strategy worked in 2009 when the Pens won the Cup, however, the team had a tough time re-signing many of their older players after early playoff exits. The Pens also lost young stars like Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, and Ben Lovejoy to trades. Bylsma's management team expected him to "coach up" the younger players who would have been promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to fill the void left by departed young stars. That didn't happen on a routine basis. Bylsma was fired after the Pens had become an inconsistent team.
Was the losing Bylsma's fault inhis final days in Pittsburgh? No. Shero was making the personnel decisions.
I like Bylsma's defensive structure. I also like that his system allows young, skilled players to use their assets without being stifled or swallowed up by a defensive posture.
Bylsma will have a huge responsibility to get maximum buy-in from his vets in Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges, Tyler Ennis, Evander Kane, and Zach Bogosian. He will have to commit himself to being a teacher/mentor to youngsters Zemgus Girgensons, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, Marcus Foligno, Nic Deslauriers, Nikita Zadorov, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe and others.
It's not know yet who Bylsma's assistant coaches will be in Buffalo, however, I'd love to see him offer an assistant coach position to Binghamton Senators head coach Luke Richardson, who has paid his dues in Bingo.