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It’s often said that you can’t fire 20 players. But you can fire 35 to 40% of them if you work at it diligently.
Today’s firing of Buffalo Sabres coach Ralph Krueger should be the first step, not the defining moment, of ownership’s recommitment to overhaul the organization.
What should be done in concert is the courting of Jim Rutherford to be the Director of Hockey Operations. You don’t have to fire Kevyn Adams. Rutherford is 72. Let Adams work under Rutherford for three seasons, studying and learning from a former NHL executive who guided two different NHL teams to a Stanley Cup championship.
It would be a logical, respected move, but alas we hear owners Terry and Kim Pegula are not going in that direction. No change in management structure is anticipated. They want to give Adams a chance.
That brings us to firing players. The 35-40% is the minimum. Adams needs to change half of the players. That’s what Rutherford would do. That’s what first-year general manager Bill Zito did when he took over the Florida Panthers this season.
Rutherford changed half of his roster and won two titles in Pittsburgh. Zito brought in 13 new players. The payoff in Florida has been a highly competitive team that is likely going to make the playoffs in the Central Division. The Panthers have only qualified for the playoffs three times in 19 years.
If you are a Sabres fan, you can relate to the Panthers’ struggles. A change of culture was needed in Florida. That’s also true in Pittsburgh
While the Krueger firing was more than justified, players should also be held accountable for the futility of the season. Where was the pride? Where has the anger been during this 12-game winless streak? I’ve always disliked using the sentence “The team quit on the coach.” But that’s what this looked like.
Just like in Florida, the player mix isn’t right in Buffalo. The transformation will start soon with the trading of Taylor Hall, Eric Staal and Brandon Montour. This will be Adams’ time to step up and land deals for Hall and Staal that include at least one player who can play in the NHL this season or next. Hall owns the leverage with his no movement clause, but this is where GMs earn their pay and respect.
The surest way to change the look of a team is to bring in two new goalies. That should be done, even though Linus Ullmark has good numbers.
Kyle Okposo should be bought out, a price Pegula should be willing to pay as part of the transformation.
Three defensemen should be changed. I’d keep Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jack McCabe, and count on the new coach, whoever that is, will get him back on line to become a star. I’d look to re-sign Rasmus Ristolainen and McCabe.If Ristolainen isn’t interested in extending, then he becomes trade bait.
Everyone in Buffalo will have to accept the fact that you can’t trade Jeff Skinner. It’s too costly to buy him out. He will simply become part of the interior decorating, like the end table that you inherited from your mother. You play Skinner 14-15 minutes and hope he can score 18-20 goals. If he rediscovers his confidence, that’s probably who he really is.
And despite all of the debate about trading Eichel, the hard truth is if you trade him you are likely setting back this organization further. How long would it take to land another true No. 1 center?
The only way the Sabres should consider trading Eichel is if he simply says he doesn’t want to play in Buffalo anymore. You can’t have a leader whose heart isn’t in it.
You have to build the offense around Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Victor Olofsson and Dylan Cozens up front and Dahlen and Ristolainen on the back end.
It would be similar to what happened in Florida where Zito concentrated on building around Alekander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad. Florida even has its version of Skinner with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky not performing at a level commensurate with his salary.
Picking the right coach in Buffalo will be an important element of the equation. One reason why Zito’s reconfiguring is working in Florida is that veteran Joel Quenneville is also changing the culture from the bench. Krueger wasn’t able to get that done.
Zito changed the look in Florida with a combination of trades, free agent signings and minor league promotions. That’s what Adams must do. He’s going to have to fill his third and fourth lines with hard-working, character players, guys with a history of playing with pride and determination. It won’t be easy.
We haven’t seen much determination in Buffalo this season. They are heading to their 10th consecutive season out of the playoffs. Sometimes, you also have to fire some of the players.
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