The Buffalo Sabres have a new coach in Lindy Ruff and a new captain in Rasmus Dahlin. They have an arena with a flashy new scoreboard and a newly installed roof to plug its many leaks.
And with that comes a history of unfulfilled hopes accompanying the team’s NHL-record 13-year playoff drought.
So what separates this year from the past?
“I guess the best way to answer that is, I understand,” general manager Kevyn Adams told The Associated Press before leaving for Europe, where Buffalo opens its season in Prague against New Jersey with a pair of games.
“Until you get the results, until you become a contending team and winning in the playoffs and putting yourself in position to win, then there’s going to be people that question decisions you make.”
Buffalo Sabres centre Dylan Cozens (24) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, April 15, 2024, in Tampa, Fla.
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Adams then outlined spending the past three years overhauling the roster — highlighted by trading captain Jack Eichel to Vegas in November 2021 — and rebuilding through youth.
“Our plan has been to get into this spot where we can get this young core that wanted to be here for the right reasons and play together,” Adams said. “That’s the simplest way for me to say that I believe in the people in our locker room.
“I believe in the coaching staff. And now we have to turn them into results, for sure.”
It was Adams who declared the window of contention open a year ago — before the Sabres stumbled through a season which ended with Don Granato’s firing, marking Buffalo’s seventh coaching change since Ruff was let go in 2013.
The franchise ranked eighth in the NHL with an average attendance of 18,690 in 2006-07, the last time Buffalo won a playoff round. Last year, the Sabres ranked 28th with an average turnout of 15,981.
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These are the challenges facing a team that’s finished last overall four times and no better than 19th in the NHL standings since 2010-11.
Much of the drought coincides with the arrival of Terry and Kim Pegula, who bought the Sabres in February 2011, followed by the NFL’s Bills in 2014. Despite various approaches — free-agent spending, bottoming out and youth movements — undertaken by four GMs, the Pegulas have little in return but a team that was losing millions before the pandemic.
The business of marketing the Sabres now falls on Pete Guelli, who was hired as CEO of both franchises in March. Aside from various front-office shakeups, Kim Pegula was unable to continue her role as president of both teams after suffering a cardiac arrest in June 2022.
“Look, we definitely have to improve the financials,” said Guelli, a former Bills VP of business ventures who left in 2009 for the NBA in Charlotte, where he oversaw the Bobcats become the Hornets. He spent the past five years overseeing the New York Giants business operations.
Guelli sees similarities between the Hornets and Sabres in terms of their struggles and potential by focusing on improving the fan experience.
“Obviously, you can never control what happens on the court, on the field, on the ice,” he said.
“What you try to do is set up a sustainable business model that can help you maximize success in some ways regardless of performance.”
The new scoreboard and roof help. Guelli is introducing other amenities to draw fans into the building with a belief the on-ice product will turn around.
“Just because people might be skeptical, you can’t deviate from that strategy,” added Guelli, who is from nearby Rochester.
The Sabres remain Pegula’s passion project, having been a fan of the team since the early 1970s while growing up in Pennsylvania. It’s reflected in Pegula’s commitment by investing his own money for arena improvements while also being on the hook for nearly $1 billion in funding the construction of the Bills new stadium set to open in 2026.
The Bills are the AFC East’s four-time defending champions. The closest the Sabres have come in recent years was in 2022-23 when they finished a win short of ending the drought.
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“I don’t think there’s a disconnect. I think the business is not an exact science,” Guelli said, comparing the franchises. “Sometimes you can see things populate the way that they did with the Bills, and look where they are today.
“I think you just keep trying to do the right things.”
And yet, the Sabres are remembered more for their missteps:
— Forward Ville Leino spent more time on Buffalo’s payroll, nine years, than on the actual roster, three, after having his contract bought out in 2014.
— This is a team Ryan O’Reilly accused of having a losing mentality in closing the 2017-18 season, leading to his trade to St. Louis where he won the Stanley Cup the following year.
— In February 2020, Eichel vowed the wheels weren’t going to fall off as happened in previous playoff runs, before they did.
Adams closed the 2022-23 season dismissing a question on whether he considered it a lost opportunity. He’s somewhat softened his stance since.
“You miss the playoffs by a point and it’s not an easy to league to make the playoffs. So I understand,” Adams said, before reiterating the valuable experience players received for being in the hunt.
“For me, it was a growth opportunity. And that’s kind of what I still believe. And I believe it’ll help us this year.”