Sabres Head Coaching Candidates Revealed
Last week, I did an article about an update on the Buffalo Sabres finding their next head coach. Yesterday, another update came out. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, he revealed the names of the potential candidates. I’m sure there are more possible candidates out there that we don’t know about but as for right now, the tweet below shows who could be the next head coach of the Sabres.
Friedman in 31 Thoughts writes he doesn't think the Sabres are in a hurry to conclude their coaching search. In addition to Granato, EF believes their circle includes Bruce Boudreau, Greg Carvel (UMass), Guy Gadowsky (Penn State), Nate Leaman (Providence) and Rick Tocchet.
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) May 31, 2021
In my article last week, I talked about how experience should be a factor for general manager Kevyn Adams. The name that comes to mind right away for me is Bruce Boudreau. He has the most experience out of the group listed and I think he should be the next coach for the franchise. Interim head coach Don Granato has some experience as he took over for Ralph Krueger for the rest of this season and the same can be said for Rick Tocchet but he does have a little bit more of experience than Granato.
I also said the Sabres should stay away from the college coaches. Greg Carvel has a record of 94-75-10, Guy Gadowsky is 155-132-23 and Nate Leaman has a coaching record of 341-249-84. Yes, each college coaching candidate has a good record but the NHL is a whole different league. It’s been a decade of awful hockey and it’s time for change. The situation the Sabres are in is bad enough, but hiring a coach with no NHL experience isn’t going to help.
Final Thoughts
Again, this team needs an experienced coach. Boudreau has been coaching in the NHL for a long time, he also knows what it takes to not only make the postseason, but to win the Stanley Cup. We’ll see what happens but as seen in the tweet, Adams isn’t in any rush and that’s okay. He has a few months before the season starts and whoever he hires, I hope that coach is here for more than two seasons.
-Zach Jezioro (@ZachJezioro_13 on Twitter)