Sabres forward Matt Moulson is having a tough year. The 32-year-old has just five goals and 15 points in 64 games. If that’s not bad enough, he’s found the back of the net just once in his last 52 contests.
Moulson thinks his slump is due to a lack of confidence, but that’s not how Sabres General Manager Tim Murray sees things.
“I see a player that maybe has neglected some things in the last couple years as far as how workouts are changing, how we as an organization are changing with our young players and even our players on the team,” Murray said, per the Buffalo News. “He’s sat up through some tough conversations. He’s sat up and taken notice, and I would say in the last five to six weeks he has been our hardest-working guy after games in the gym.”
Ouch! That’s some tough love from Murray.
It’s important for the Sabres to get this situation straightened out as soon as possible because it appears as though Moulson will be around for the next few seasons.
The veteran has the second highest cap hit ($5 million) among among forwards on the team (behind Evander Kane) and he’s signed through the 2018-19 season.
“We have a plan. We don’t expect to see results tomorrow,” added Murray. “We’ve talked to his agent. We’ve talked to him. We’ve talked to our strength and conditioning staff. He doesn’t miss an optional skate anymore. He doesn’t miss a postgame workout anymore. So he’s taking this real serious. He doesn’t just want to go away.”
When asked about Murray’s comments, Moulson responded with “OK.” When he was asked if he “neglected” his workouts Moulson added: “I don’t know. There’s always room for improvement, so maybe I decided to improve some things.”
It’'ll be interesting to see if Moulson can turn things around. He’s just two seasons removed from scoring 23 goals and 51 points. He also has three 30-goal seasons under his belt.