BUFFALO, N.Y. — The message from the Buffalo Sabres’ leadership has been clear in both words and actions: the solutions to the team’s problems are in the dressing room. The intention behind that message is to relay a sense of calm despite the chaotic month that has led the Sabres to an 0-8-3 record in their last 11 games. General manager Kevyn Adams said earlier this month he doesn’t want to panic and make a knee-jerk move.
But since those comments, the Sabres’ winless streak has grown from five to 11 games. Lindy Ruff, the team’s 64-year-old coach who has been behind the bench for more than 1,800 NHL games, said this is the “toughest solve” he’s ever been around. The owner went to Montreal to speak to the team. All the while, nothing has changed about the Sabres’ roster. There’s not a single player on Buffalo’s current roster who wasn’t among the 25 players the team took to Prague to open the season.
The only waiver claim was James Reimer, who the Sabres had waived themselves at the start of the season. There have been no trades. We’ve heard Adams speak about his faith in this group and the obstacles that no-trade clauses present when it comes to bringing players to Buffalo. But there’s been a jarring lack of action from the general manager given the tailspin the team has been in. It’s not just that Adams said this was a “win now” season, it’s that the team was actually winning as of a few weeks ago. The Sabres were in a playoff position at Thanksgiving and have fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference.
In that time, the Sabres were without Rasmus Dahlin for seven games. He’s set to return Friday against the Maple Leafs. Now Jordan Greenway is having surgery that will keep him out long-term. They’ve had Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson miss chunks of games with injuries. A roster that already needed another piece or two has been short-handed due to injury at various points, and Adams has only looked for replacements within the organization.
“Kevyn and myself are in constant communication about trying to make this team better,” Ruff said after practice Thursday. “I think everybody in this league is kind of in that same category, whether you’re a good team or whether you’re in the middle of the pack, you’re exploring ways that can make your team better. That is just a constant communication that we go on from day to day.
“We’ve got to keep working with what we got. And we’ve got to keep that communication going on. Is there ways to make the team better? Now we’ve lost another key piece, so that communication will be ongoing.”
As of now, the NHL holiday roster freeze is in effect, so the Sabres won’t be making any outside additions until Dec. 28 at the earliest. Around the league, it’s been a busy few weeks of player movement as teams tinkered with their rosters ahead of the freeze. On Wednesday alone, there were two trades that involved players who could have helped the Sabres. The Kraken acquired Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers for Will Borgen and third- and sixth-round picks. The Canadiens acquired defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Predators for Justin Barron. Carrier and Borgen are right-shot defensemen who could have been paired with Owen Power. Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft, is going to get a chance to play in Seattle’s top six. Those were areas of need for Buffalo that remain unaddressed. Earlier in the season, the Predators put right-handed defenseman Dante Fabbro on waivers. He was playing top pair minutes in Columbus prior to a recent injury.
You can quibble over the particulars of every player traded or claimed on waivers. Typically players moving in season have flaws or contract situations that make them available to begin with. But that enough of these deals are happening makes Adams’ inactivity even more glaring. Maybe he feels comfortable with the roster or at least comfortable with the fact that Pegula hasn’t lost patience
Either way, that puts the onus on the Sabres’ players to be the solution. They’ve fallen in line behind the idea that the answers are in the locker room, at least with their words.
“I believe in this group,” Sabres alternate captain Dylan Cozens said after practice on Thursday. “I think we all believe in this group. We have to be better. But I do think looking at every guy in here we have the team to win and we have the players to do it. But we’ve been saying that for a while now. It’s about time we go f—— do it.”
That last part is of particular importance. Words haven’t done much for this team. The players need to get back to being emotionally invested in the game for all 60 minutes. Getting Dahlin back will help. He’s the team’s captain and best player. If there’s one player who could be a difference-maker, both emotionally and on the ice, it’s him. Ruff said he met with his leaders before practice Thursday to drive home the point that they’re the ones who can turn this around.
“We met again today and I said it’s you guys, it’s this group, the five or six guys that I have that have been around more than the (Jiri) Kulichs and the (Zach) Bensons and those types of guys, it’s you guys that I’m handing the puck off to, you’re the guys that have to be the difference-makers,” Ruff said.
To this point, the Sabres look like a roster with too few difference-makers. And their general manager hasn’t shown the urgency to change that. That leaves players like Dahlin, Buffalo’s 24-year-old captain, standing in the dressing room running out of things to say.
“It’s the easiest thing to talk about, but we don’t have a choice, we have to do it,” Dahlin said. “We have to find a way because what’s been done isn’t good enough.”
(Photo: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)
