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Mike Gillis would be another good step towards change for the Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres took their time but finally moved on from head coach Ralph Krueger today. The club was never able to sustain success under his guidance and we saw the wheels fall off here at the end.

This franchise is at a critical point and needs to decide on which road they’re going to go down. Is it time to start over or take another run at being a successful team with a new head coach? These are the types of decisions that would be difficult for a first-time general manager like Kevyn Adams to make without someone to lean on.

Ownership has put Adams in a difficult position. They greatly reduced the size of his hockey department over the summer in a purge and he has very little experience to rely on in his front office. Remember, this is Adams’ first time in a high-level hockey ops role. He’s the only general manager in the league with no assistant general managers.

Experienced Front Office Addition

It’s time for the Pegula’s to loosen the strings on the purse and get Adams someone with experience to help him navigate through the next few years. The good news is that sources have indicated to me that for the first time in a while they’re open to the idea of someone else coming in to assist in decision making. What exactly that role would be and if they’ll actually follow through with it remains up in the air.

This isn’t an indictment on Adams. To be honest, I feel as though he has done a good job under the circumstances. It’s about getting experienced support around him.

People have mentioned the recent general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jim Rutherford, as a person that makes sense to fill this role. I have a different name in mind.

Mike Gillis should be who the Sabres set their sights on now. The former Vancouver Canucks general manager is looking to get back into an NHL front office. He interviewed with the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers for their vacant general manager positions in the offseason.

The 62-year-old hasn’t been in an NHL front office since 2014 when he was fired by the Canucks. During his time in that organization, his teams won five division titles in six years and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011.

In an interview with Sportsnet about a year and a half ago, Gillis talked about how he has been studying the best teams in the NHL and how they’re built. Here’s an excerpt from that article that shows why he’s a perfect fit for the Sabres:

“As a general manager of a team, you’re really myopic. You’re really focused on your team performance, on your individual player performance, on your coaching performance. I like that part of the job, but right now I’m more interested in how you build an organization, how you see results, how you measure results,” said Gillis, who spoke to Sportsnet after delivering a wide-ranging hour-plus-long talk at Ryerson University for a lecture hall filled with coaches of all levels.

“I’m really interested in analytics, sports science, human performance, and how to blend those things into a high-culture organization.”

At the time of that article in 2019, Gillis indicated that he wasn’t interested in taking a job as a general manager. He wanted a position that assisted in building a team as a leader of a hockey operations department. However, as I mentioned, he has had at least two general manager interviews since then.

If he still wants a job overseeing a hockey department, his approach aligns a lot with what the Sabres need. Someone with experience, a history of success, and in touch with the modern game. He also would fall in place with the desire of Adams and Jason Nightingale to expand the club’s analytics department.

The Sabres made a change at head coach but it shouldn’t stop there. They need to continue the theme of change and get someone in the organization that can help guide Adams through this tough challenge ahead of him.

Photo Credit: Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images
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