## I know you don’t think there will be a coaching change for next year. That said, do you think there should be and why? — Chuck R.
General manager Kevyn Adams told me before the trade deadline that he anticipates Don Granato coaching the team next season, so I’m not expecting a change. The Sabres played well enough to work their way back into the fringe of the playoff picture since those comments.
I think the Sabres would be justified in making a coaching change. Granato has coached the seventh most games among coaches who never reached the playoffs in NHL history. He’s also the sixth-longest tenured coach in the league right now. NHL teams change coaches often, but Adams has opted to take a more patient approach. That’s fine. Granato has done some good things in his time coaching the Sabres. The team made a lot of progress last season. But this season has been a step back. The power play has held them back, the team started the season slow and multiple star players aren’t reaching the potential they showed last season.
If Granato is returning next season, Adams needs to take a long look at who is on the bench with Granato and formulate a plan for what to do if the team gets off to another slow start. Mike Bales has proven to be a solid goalie coach for the Sabres, but Matt Ellis, Jason Christie and Marty Wilford are all inexperienced assistants at the NHL level. If Granato is going to continue as head coach, Adams should make sure he has a more proven staff around him. Not only would it help the team troubleshoot weaknesses that pop up the way the power play did this season, but it would give Adams an interim option if he has to move on from Granato in season.
## Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome at this point, but is it wrong that I’m encouraged by our play post-deadline and retain hope that next year everything will click? I know there were expectations for playoffs this year, and it hurts that they’re (almost) dashed, but somehow Adams and Donny just keep saying and doing *just enough* to keep me minorly bought in. I guess my question is, is it wrong I’m not as mad as others are about us underperforming this year? — Ryan O.
I don’t think you’re wrong, Ryan. Given what the team looked like when Adams and Granato stepped in, they’ve come a long way in returning the franchise to respectability. They also did it with an approach that requires patience. Adams has drafted well, and the Sabres haven’t done a bad job developing talent. When you build through the draft in the NHL, results can take a while. That doesn’t mean Adams gets an endless runway, but I understand your sentiment. There have been enough encouraging signs to have some hope it can all click next season.
That said, Adams can’t ignore this team’s flaws in the offseason and just hope it all clicks. He needs to do some serious work on the forward group. They need more players with the aforementioned competitiveness but also need to evaluate why their top scorers aren’t producing. Adams also has a lot of contract decisions to make that will impact the team’s spending flexibility in future years. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Peyton Krebs, Henri Jokiharju and Jacob Bryson are all restricted free agents, while a handful of other prominent players will be eligible for extensions this summer. Even the most patient and optimistic supporters of Adams would admit this is an offseason that could define his tenure as general manager.
## This is the third of his four professional seasons (including the two in Rochester — one of those, the weird, pandemic-delayed season) where Quinn has sustained an injury that took him out of the lineup for an extended period. How should that affect how much they count on him going forward? — Brian C.
The way the Sabres crumbled without Jack Quinn in the lineup earlier this season shows they need to build better forward depth. Some of Quinn’s injuries have been freak occurrences. But he is still developing from a strength standpoint and plays with a competitive edge. That combination puts him at more of a risk for injury. That said, Quinn has shown the potential to be an impact player and I’m not worried about the injuries adding up.
PrinciplesRK
I don’t expect them to fire Granato at this point but if they run back the assistants as well it is going to be bleak.
OpabiniaGlasses
The bigger issues are with the roster and that’s where the changes need to be made. Not that you can’t do both, but if the options A) make major additions to the roster and keep the coaching staff or B) replace and coaching staff and don’t make significant roster changes, give me option A 101% of the time.
StartButtonPress
I’d have liked to see us spend (nearer) to the cap. It’s an understated part of this season, that we had a lot of cap space and didn’t use it.
That’s not a feasible approach if you’re trying to win
I certainly recognize that cap gets more complicated soon, but for this season we could have splashed on a forward to help us out.
Important-Value-159
Fire Donny chants all Wednesday. Screw this team bunch of losers, the fact Adam’s wouldn’t even take calls on tuch is asinine. He stinks!
5 Comments
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## I know you don’t think there will be a coaching change for next year. That said, do you think there should be and why? — Chuck R.
General manager Kevyn Adams told me before the trade deadline that he anticipates Don Granato coaching the team next season, so I’m not expecting a change. The Sabres played well enough to work their way back into the fringe of the playoff picture since those comments.
I think the Sabres would be justified in making a coaching change. Granato has coached the seventh most games among coaches who never reached the playoffs in NHL history. He’s also the sixth-longest tenured coach in the league right now. NHL teams change coaches often, but Adams has opted to take a more patient approach. That’s fine. Granato has done some good things in his time coaching the Sabres. The team made a lot of progress last season. But this season has been a step back. The power play has held them back, the team started the season slow and multiple star players aren’t reaching the potential they showed last season.
If Granato is returning next season, Adams needs to take a long look at who is on the bench with Granato and formulate a plan for what to do if the team gets off to another slow start. Mike Bales has proven to be a solid goalie coach for the Sabres, but Matt Ellis, Jason Christie and Marty Wilford are all inexperienced assistants at the NHL level. If Granato is going to continue as head coach, Adams should make sure he has a more proven staff around him. Not only would it help the team troubleshoot weaknesses that pop up the way the power play did this season, but it would give Adams an interim option if he has to move on from Granato in season.
## Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome at this point, but is it wrong that I’m encouraged by our play post-deadline and retain hope that next year everything will click? I know there were expectations for playoffs this year, and it hurts that they’re (almost) dashed, but somehow Adams and Donny just keep saying and doing *just enough* to keep me minorly bought in. I guess my question is, is it wrong I’m not as mad as others are about us underperforming this year? — Ryan O.
I don’t think you’re wrong, Ryan. Given what the team looked like when Adams and Granato stepped in, they’ve come a long way in returning the franchise to respectability. They also did it with an approach that requires patience. Adams has drafted well, and the Sabres haven’t done a bad job developing talent. When you build through the draft in the NHL, results can take a while. That doesn’t mean Adams gets an endless runway, but I understand your sentiment. There have been enough encouraging signs to have some hope it can all click next season.
That said, Adams can’t ignore this team’s flaws in the offseason and just hope it all clicks. He needs to do some serious work on the forward group. They need more players with the aforementioned competitiveness but also need to evaluate why their top scorers aren’t producing. Adams also has a lot of contract decisions to make that will impact the team’s spending flexibility in future years. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Peyton Krebs, Henri Jokiharju and Jacob Bryson are all restricted free agents, while a handful of other prominent players will be eligible for extensions this summer. Even the most patient and optimistic supporters of Adams would admit this is an offseason that could define his tenure as general manager.
## This is the third of his four professional seasons (including the two in Rochester — one of those, the weird, pandemic-delayed season) where Quinn has sustained an injury that took him out of the lineup for an extended period. How should that affect how much they count on him going forward? — Brian C.
The way the Sabres crumbled without Jack Quinn in the lineup earlier this season shows they need to build better forward depth. Some of Quinn’s injuries have been freak occurrences. But he is still developing from a strength standpoint and plays with a competitive edge. That combination puts him at more of a risk for injury. That said, Quinn has shown the potential to be an impact player and I’m not worried about the injuries adding up.
I don’t expect them to fire Granato at this point but if they run back the assistants as well it is going to be bleak.
The bigger issues are with the roster and that’s where the changes need to be made. Not that you can’t do both, but if the options A) make major additions to the roster and keep the coaching staff or B) replace and coaching staff and don’t make significant roster changes, give me option A 101% of the time.
I’d have liked to see us spend (nearer) to the cap. It’s an understated part of this season, that we had a lot of cap space and didn’t use it.
That’s not a feasible approach if you’re trying to win
I certainly recognize that cap gets more complicated soon, but for this season we could have splashed on a forward to help us out.
Fire Donny chants all Wednesday. Screw this team bunch of losers, the fact Adam’s wouldn’t even take calls on tuch is asinine. He stinks!