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4 Reasons Why Toronto Maple Leafs Succeeded and Sabres Didn’t

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks for a puck to tip at Linus Ullmark #35 of the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks for a puck to tip at Linus Ullmark #35 of the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 23: (L-R) Lou Lamoriello and Brendan Shanahan of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

#3. Management

The Buffalo Sabres weren’t always a laughing stock.

Under architect Darcy Regier, they made the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999 and had two Eastern Conference Finals appearances in the 2000s

Regier is the most accomplished G.M. in Buffalo Sabres history, despite never winning a Stanley Cup, and after missing the playoffs four times in the past six seasons, the Sabres fired him in 2013.

Expecting that the firing would create a spark for the Sabres, the team has yet to make the playoffs since his departure. Instead the team has now gone through two G.M.’s in six years.

Tim Murray, who was hired to replace Reigier, made a few great moves offensively acquiring Ryan O’Rielly and Kyle Okposo, while tanking for Jack Eichel. If the Sabres had won the Draft Lottery and acquired Connor McDavid instead of Eichel, maybe Murray would still have his job.

However, Murray never addressed his defensive issues and didn’t hire the right coach, so that was the biggest reason towards his demise.

Botterill, who then filled Murray’s shoes didn’t do much better. He also couldn’t find a coach to fit in Buffalo and couldn’t help with goaltending or secondary scoring to compliment Eichel. He thought he found it by signing Jeff Skinner to an eight-year, $72-million contract, but that may turn into one of the worst contracts in the entire NHL.

As the Sabres management folded, the Leafs succeeded. Starting with Brendan Shanahan at the top, the team took a brand new approach to build out a solid front-office, which would then translate to on-ice success.

Shanahan hired Lou Lamoriello who did a fantastic job gutting the Leafs roster and rebuilding from scratch. Lamoriello was able to acquire a number-one goaltender in Frederick Andersen, draft Auston Matthews and extend the contracts of Zach Hyman and Morgan Rielly to team-friendly deals.

Once Lamoriello’s contract expired, the team already had a succession plan in place by hiring analytics guru Kyle Dubas who had the opportunity of learning from Lamoriello for the past three seasons. He was groomed and ready to prove his capability as a great G.M. in the NHL and has done so already by signing his young core long-term, in addition to acquiring John Tavares.

While the Buffalo Sabres management has been a revolving door with continual disappointment from the Pegula family, the Leafs have one of the best front-offices in the NHL.

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