Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs did easiest thing in the NHL: they defeated the Buffalo Sabres.
With the victory, the Maple Leafs dealt the Sabres their 10th consecutive loss, making it a full month, at least, between victories for them. As a result, there is almost no chance the Sabres will make the playoffs this year.
The least they could do is throw their fans a bone and hire themselves a new GM.
The Sabres drafted Jack Eichel about a decade ago, he and Sam Reinhart were both franchise players drafted by Buffalo who blossomed into perennial Hart Trophy nominees, and both have Cups already - on different teams.
The Sabres Owe Their Fans Some Blood
But after that, they drafted Rasmus Dahlin first overall and have completely failed to surround him with anyone worth caring about. Casey Mittlestadt, Owen Power, Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens, Alex Nylander is about as bad as you could do with 5 x top ten picks, including a #1.
The Jack Eichel trade was a disaster, but not as bad as the Sam Reinhart trade. The Sabres received Devon Levi and Jiri Kulich while the Panthers picked up a 57 goal scoring MVP who helped them win the Stanley Cup.
The Sabres are screwed - they aren't making the playoffs again this year, and if they lose to Montreal in their next game they'll be last in the East. They need to change owners right away, but if they can't, they at least need to considered hiring literally any breathing human to replace Kevin Adams at the first opportunity.
Really, any random person could replicate Adam's record, but if they hired any other hockey executive, they would get instant improvement. If they actually hire someone who understands how hockey works this century, so much the better.
As for the Leafs, they now have a nice two point lead over the Panthers and seem like absolute locks to make the playoffs for the eigth straight year. But it hasn't been long since the Leafs have been in the Sabres place.
As a fan of possibly the second worst run team in the NHL (historically speaking at least) I've been in the Sabres' fans shoes for more seasons than I care to remember. It's honestly surprising that the Leafs didn't trade Auston Matthews in his rookie season for a vetern grinding centre who "knows how to play the game the right way," but I digress.
At this point, the only thing that is going to by them any time is a completely new regime. They need to fire anyone associated with the organization's decision making apparatus and start over. Their fans deserve better than this.