First, the somewhat expected move. Bylsma was hired in the same year that the Sabres drafted Jack Eichel. However, the bloom came off for Bylsma this season, as he showed little idea on matching lines, and in the process, rubbed Eichel the wrong way on some nights. Rumblings that Eichel would not sign an extension if Bylsma were head coach were abound, but the fact here is that Bylsma never had a good grasp of who should be where.
Now, the unexpected move, as in Tim Murray was also fired. Murray was General Manager when the Evander Kane trade went down, and while the Sabres are still waiting for that trade plus the trade for Robin Lehner to reap its rewards, it can be argued that the trade rumors surrounding Kane last season indicated that he made a mistake. In case you're asking, the Kane trade also netted Zach Bogosian and a minor league goalie, and to date, despite his off-ice problems, Kane may be the only one that could produce any kind of return, as he scored 28 goals this season, thus showing his potential. Bogosian, on the other hand, failed to stay healthy once again and did little to show why he was a former first round pick. As for the Robin Lehner trade, while he's shown flashes of being a number one goalie, it's been exactly that: flashes. Letting Chad Johnson walk prior to this season may have been an undoing, as Anders Nilsson proved to be too unreliable to give Lehner time off. Murray also didn't do too well when it came to developing a pipeline, as Brendan Guhle is the only one that can claim to be a top prospect at this time, with Alexander Nylander still a year or two away.
The Sabres, much like their NFL counterpart Bills, are a mess, and it may take a while for it to clean up, particularly if the Pegulas show the same impatience that has plagued the Buffalo franchises since the turn of the century.
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