Sabres may have right players to finally end playoff drought
Hungry. Driven. And with a healthy dose of humility.
That's the mindset first-year general manager Kevyn Adams wants the Buffalo Sabres to adopt. For a team that has not qualified for the playoffs in nine straight seasons, it shouldn't be too much to ask.
After all, when it comes to being hungry for playoff success, Jack Eichel's stomach has been grumbling loudly ever since he came into the league as the No. 2 overall pick in 2015. So, when the Sabres missed out again this year, even after the NHL opened up the post-season to 24 teams, it wasn't surprising to hear him openly grumble that he was “fed up with the losing” and “frustrated.”
To outsiders, it might have sounded like Eichel wanted out. To Adams, who was hired in June, it sounded like the opposite.
Eichel didn't want out. He just wanted to be surrounded by players who were all-in when it came to winning.
That's how Buffalo ended up with Eric Staal and Taylor Hall in what might have been the best off-season of any team in the NHL. Yes, Staal and Hall are the kind of top-end talents Eichel has been missing as teammates during his five years in Buffalo. But more importantly, like him, they are starving for success.
Hall, who has made the post-season twice in his 10-year career, has never won a playoff round. Staal, who won a Cup in his second year in the league, has not won a playoff round since 2009.
“The first conversation I had with Eric Staal after we acquired him, he said, `I want to win so bad. I want to taste that again and feel what it's like to go through the playoffs and have success,'” said Adams. “Obviously, what Eric Staal's done in his career in terms of winning a Stanley Cup and the Olympics and all those other things will help our room. But he's also driven and hungry to have that again.
“And then Taylor's a No. 1 pick. He's felt what Jack's felt in terms of the pressure.”
That Hall was signed to a oneyear contract and Staal is in the final year of his contract might not have exactly been a coincidence. If you want players to be hungry, dangling a contract above their heads can be an effective motivator. And while it might mean that both could be gone after this year, don't underestimate the flexibility that it provides the Sabres, who are paying Jeff Skinner US$9 million for each of the next seven years.
The hope, however, is that this won't be a one and done for either player.
Adams believes that Hall, who won the Hart Trophy a few years ago, will flourish offensively on a line with Eichel. He also believes that Staal, who will slot behind Eichel rather than be leaned on as the No. 1 centre as he was in Minnesota, will recapture the chemistry he had while playing alongside Skinner in Carolina.
“We believe in these guys,” said Adams. “We believe these guys have long-term potential for us in our organization. We just felt at the time we are in, it just made sense for us to keep those contracts on the short-term.”
Combined with the acquisition of penalty kill specialists Cody Eakin and Tobias Rieder, as well as defenceman Matt Irwin, both players should make the Sabres a lot better than they were a year ago, when they finished with the 13th-best record in the Eastern Conference.
How much better will depend on whether goalies Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark can rebound after posting a combined .900 save percentage that tied for seventh-worst in the league.
It will also depend on the division Buffalo is playing in next year.
Ending the drought was difficult enough when the team was competing against Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto in the Atlantic Division. Now Buffalo is lumped in a division with Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders, where finishing among the top four becomes an even greater challenge.
“We feel that we improved, but now we have to earn it,” said Adams. “Now it's about going in and doing it on the ice and putting the work in.”
Does that mean the Sabres should be considered a playoff contender?
Adams hesitates to answer.
“It's about waking up and being incredibly hungry and driven more than you were the day before and being the best version of yourself,” he said. “If you focus on those little things day in and day out, the bigger picture crystallizes and takes care of itself.
“I'm not dodging the question, but if we can be that team with that type of mindset — to be driven and hungry and humble — then the results will take care of themselves as we go.
“That's the exciting part.”