Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres named Don Granato as their new head coach on Tuesday, and Granato and general manager Kevyn Adams both spoke to the media on Thursday.
Adams knew Granato even before he joined the Sabres as an assistant coach, but he learned more about him after he took over for the Ralph Krueger, who was fired as head coach back on March 17.
“I love how he immediately reset the focus of our players," Adams said. "It was let’s compete and have fun. It was a change in mindset.”
When speaking to the players about Granato and his staff following the season, Adams got some good feedback.
“In the exit meetings, it was really clear that the players absolutely respected and bought into the message that Don and the staff was bringing," Adams said. "You can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you don’t have the buy-in from the players, it can be a real challenge.
“I certainly wanted to go through the process by making sure we took the time to talk to a number of different candidates, and we did that and I learned from every one of those conversations. But it felt as we went through it, Don was the right guy.”
So what was Adams looking for in a head coach?
“I was looking for a relationship where we trust each other," he responded. "You’re not always going to agree, and 'Donny' and I quickly established a rhythm.
“I love people that challenge each other and ask questions and is humble enough to know that you don’t always have all the answers, but you’ll get to the right answer.”
For Granato, he’s been a head coach in many different leagues and many different places. He told Adams right away that this was the only job he wanted.
“This is an opportunity for me, but it’s more than that. It’s an obligation.” Granato said. “I’m so much more comfortable being a head coach because I’ve done it longer. You set the narrative each day.”
Granato hates boring hockey, and that was on display last season as the team wound down its schedule.
“This game, when it’s played right, is really entertaining. That means you’re playing with passion and energy, and the players love that," Granato said. "We’ll learn more from that if we do lose than if we didn’t play with passion.
“It’s not just we want to be entertaining for the fans, it’s for us too.”
Granato knows that the roster will look much different in October than it does now. There’s a very good chance that he won’t have Jack Eichel or Sam Reinhart on the team. Whatever the case may be, Granato says he’ll be ready.
“When you prepare for a season, there’s different scenarios that might happen. It helps you as an organization and makes you better, because we don’t know what will happen," the Sabres head coach said. "We know the direction that we want to go, so how we may have to move this group in that direction may change, but you can’t throw your arms in the air and say, ‘We quit.' So whatever the scenario is, we’ll be ready for it and we’ll adjust and acclimate without compromising the direction that we want to go.”
I've had some fans that tell me that the cupboards are bare in the Sabres organization. I think that’s wrong, and Granato agrees.
“There’s a lot of pieces that I believe strongly in that are entering the organization," Granato explained. "[There's] Anders Bjork, we have Jack Quinn, 'UPL' [Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen] is entering the organization, J-J Peterka just signed. So you factor in what we have and then you factor in Mattias Samuelsson, there’s so many exciting things and areas that will fill the roster, that you’ll see a winning roster.”
There are actually more names that Granato didn’t mention that should be brought up.
2019 first round pick Ryan Johnson is thriving in college at the University of Minnesota. Goalie Erik Portillo was taken two round later in the same draft class, and the sophomore will be Michigan’s starting goalie this fall. Will Borgen and Jacob Bryson showed well, at times, this season in Buffalo, and 2017 second round pick Oskari Laaksonen was a North Division All-Star with the Rochester Americans this season.
Granato said he will talk with Adams about his coaching staff in the coming weeks. They include assistant coaches Matt Ellis and Dan Girardi, as well as goalie coach Mike Bales.
As expected, Adams was asked about the latest on Jack Eichel. He said the organization hasn’t changed its stance on the surgery Eichel wants.
The Sabres are seeking a first round pick in any trade talks they’re having with other teams about Eichel. With the 2021 NHL Draft starting on Friday, July 23, it may put some pressure on Adams to get a deal done.
“There’s natural pressure points with the draft or the trade deadline. There’s just certain times where things automatically heat up," Adams said. "I’m having conversations every day. I’m looking at anything and everything.”
Adams also said he had a long conversation with Eichel’s agent on Wednesday, so the communication is there.
The next step for the Sabres is getting their protected list together for the Seattle Expansion Draft. That list needs to be turned in to the NHL by Saturday, July 17. The Expansion Draft will officially take place on Wednesday, July 21.
In case you missed any of Don Granato's introductory conference call, you can listen to it in its entirety below:
