BUFFALO, N.Y. — New Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill made a clear impression during his opening news conference that he has a fresh plan for the organization: instilling principles he learned from one the NHL’s top teams to lift up one of the league’s doormats.
The Sabres hired Botterill on Thursday to lead a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs in six years, the second-longest active drought, ahead of only the Hurricanes and their eight seasons seasons without a playoff berth.
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Botterill made it clear he isn't coming into Buffalo to pick up where recently fired GM Tim Murray left off. He wants to make changes in how this team is built, from top to bottom, to help get the franchise out of the mud. Botterill played for the Sabres from 2002-05, and knows what kind of fan base he’s walking into.
“I’m excited about leading this organization to the next level,” Botterill said after he was introduced as the franchise’s eighth general manager. “I truly understand from my time as a player here in Western New York — both in Rochester and Buffalo — how passionate and loyal the fans in this region are towards the game of hockey. I know that they deserve success.”
Owner Terry Pegula wanted a GM to help fix the Sabres' structure and discipline issues — and Botterill seemed eager to do just that. For Botterill, that endeavor starts by hiring a coach who can command a locker room and mold the team's younger players.
“The things I’m looking for (in a coach), with so many young players in our organization, a developer, an educator and a communicator,” Botterill said. “In today’s world, in today’s game, they have to have that strong communication with the players.
“And finally, they need to have that presence in the locker room. The players have to understand the head coach is in control and leading the charge.”
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The Sabres fired coach Dan Bylsma along with Murray back in April. Botterill hopes to have a new coach hired in time for the NHL Draft in June.
“We have other things to do right away in regards to amateur scouting, pro meetings next week." Botterill said. “But I’ll certainly begin getting into those discussions with different coach candidates. But I’d certainly like to have something in place by the draft.”
Botterill pledged to build the Sabres’ prospect pool with the Rochester Amerks, Buffalo’s minor league team. The Amerks haven't won a playoff series since 2005. The Penguins’ minor league team in Wilkes-Barre has won 15 series over that stretch, and a majority with Botterill overseeing the team.
“It has to be a priority of management and the development group to get down to Rochester and be around,” Botterill said. “We had a bigger staff in Pittsburgh. I was fortunate enough to work with people such as Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Guerin, Mark Recchi. The last time we looked at it, in a three-year period at least one of us was down for there for 95 percent of the games. Players realize that. Players notice when management is around making that a priority.”
Botterill expects to have a GM in place to oversee the Amerks, and hopes to bring in more assistant GMs to help run the franchise, a similar to hierarchy Pittsburgh has.
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Botterill admitted he hasn’t had a lot of time to evaluate Buffalo’s roster, considering he was just at Game 7 with the Penguins on Wednesday, but he knows one thing for sure.
“This is a league that thrives on centermen, and the fortunate thing here is that we have a couple amazing, high-end centermen,” Botterill said of centers Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel. “I also like the fact that we have some young defensemen that can handle some big minutes out there.”
Botterill was one of the hottest general manager candidates in the league, and has been for a couple years now. At 40 years old, he’s the second-youngest GM in Sabres history, and is the second-youngest GM in the league besides Arizona’s John Chayka. He brings some expertise the Sabres could desperately use: salary cap help.
At the moment, the Sabres have just $560,691 in cap space. While some dead weight contracts could be coming off the books this summer, the Sabres still need to pay young stars Eichel and Sam Reinhart shortly. Botterill, who has a master's degree in business administration from Michigan, is known to be a mastermind in handling the salary cap. When Botterill interviewed for the assistant GM job in Pittsburgh in 2007, he presented a detailed contract that management should offer to Ryan Whitney, who was set to be a free agent.
The Penguins signed Whitney for a bargain a month later and Botterill got the job. Botterill was instrumental in working out other high-profile contracts, most notably Sidney Crosby’s.
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When Pegula fired Bylsma and Murray back in April, he made it clear he wanted to instill three characteristics into the organization that had been lacking: discipline, structure and communication.
Botterill's plan checks all three boxes.
"He's pretty much done everything you can do in hockey, from being a player, being involved in evaluating, drafting, developing and then molding those players between two teams, the AHL and the NHL team," Pegula said. "That takes a lot of discipline and a lot of structure.
"You can see he's well prepared. He's been through the wars with the Pittsburgh organization."