Sportsnet: Frank Seravalli when asked about the Buffalo Sabres and if it’s coaching or something else, and what could happen if they don’t turn things around.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Justin Cuthbert: “Things are not good with the Buffalo Sabres right now and a lot of the shine has been knocked off the Granato experience or at least it seems. I mean, people were really, really bullish on what he was going to do there and it’s just not working.
What do you sense might happen if it continues to trend negatively for the Buffalo Sabres?
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Seravalli: “I’ve seen all the chants. I’ve read the newspaper stories. Mike Harrington in the Buffalo News was saying, ‘welcome to another nuclear winter in Buffalo.’
And it’s a chilling thought for the Sabres team, that for the most part over these last 12 years, 13 years since this playoff drought started, can’t get out of its own way.
I don’t view this as a coaching problem at all. I think the Buffalo Sabres under Don Granato have taken some significant steps. I think they love playing for him. I think Kevin Adams has been really impressed with what he’s seen from Don Granato. But wildcard here in this is, how does Terry Pegula feel? How does their owner think and react to this because that part to me, I don’t have line of sight on that. And if it were up to just Kevyn Adams, my assumption is that they stay the course and for a good long while for a guy who’s under contract through 2026, and just recently had gotten an extension.
That said, I think the onus for this season, rest and lies squarely on Kevyn Adams shoulders. Because I love what they did last year. I love the step forward that they took and I love the line in the sand that they drew when they said ‘we’re not bringing in any veterans to this team that are gonna get in the way of young players.’
They took big steps had a 91-point season, and then they got to this summer and they took their foot off the gas. And you had all these other teams around the league continue to improve and the Sabres really did nothing. And then they also placed a huge bet on Devin Levi to do something that’s more or less unprecedented, to go right from the NCAA into being an NHL starter, and that’s so hard to do.
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So they’ve had to go back to the drawing board. They’ve been some painful moments. I am a believer in this core, but I think they need some help.
