The Buffalo Sabres finished last season in an all-too-familiar place: the basement of their division.
Uniform failures meant the end of line for Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma, with Jason Botterill taking over as GM and Phil Housley becoming head coach.
The Sabres are no strangers to off-season changes from a personnel perspective, and this summer was no different.
Marco Scandella and Nathan Beaulieu join the fold via bold trades, while they also signed Matt Tennyson. Meanwhile, Dmitry Kulikov is gone, and the same appears to be true for Cody Franson.
That Scandella trade also brings Jason Pominville back to town while shipping Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno to Minnesota. Benoit Pouliot was also added in a nice little under-the-radar free agent signing.
Chad Johnson also provides Robin Lehner with a credible backup (and maybe viable competition, as both are only on one-year deals).
For the most part, the Sabres hope to improve from within ... and maybe enjoy some better luck. The hope is that Jack Eichel doesn’t miss much of the final year of his entry-level deal after being limited to about half of his sophomore season. One hopes that Kyle Okposo’s health issues are way behind him, both from an on and off-ice perspective.
Change is in the air, but it remains to be seen how much positive change Housley can generate in his first season as an NHL head coach. PHT will discuss the many factors surrounding the 2017-18 season for Buffalo on Tuesday.