The Buffalo Sabres are falling out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference faster than anyone thought possible.
The team now finds itself eight points back of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who both have 74 points and are tied for the final Wild Card spot in the East. If Carolina can manage to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Buffalo will end up with the longest playoff drought in the National Hockey League. That's a drought dating back to the 2010-11 season.
Sabres general manager Jason Botterill took the time on Friday to speak with the Bulldog at (716) Food and Sport before Buffalo's matchup with the Penguins at KeyBank Center. Botterill talked a bit on the progress of his team heading into the final stretch of the season, as well some thoughts on the trade deadline that passed on Monday.
Here is some of what he had to say:
Botterill on the possibility of trading Jeff Skinner:
"The deadline never came into play. Both sides are working to get a deal done here. There's never been threats or anything like that."
Botterill on the lack of production at center (other than Jack Eichel):
"We understood we were putting a young player in difficult spots. Did we think [Patrik] Berglund could ease the minutes on Casey [Mittelstadt]? For sure. That didn't materialize. [Evan] Rodrigues being a Swiss Army knife at center or wing has helped. "
Botterill on the play of Mittelstadt this season:
"Ask any player on our roster who played at a young age, it's a grind in the second half of the season. Casey played at Minnesota high school. This has been a big jump for him. He's a competitive young player, who gets frustrated when he's not producing. But you see he continues to fight on those 1-on-1 battles."
Botterill on wanting to lower Rasmus Ristolainen's minutes:
"He wants to be in all situations. We need to continue as an organization to have more competition, more depth. Taking a few minutes away will help him out a lot."
You can hear the entire interview below:
