Fans have shown their frustrations with the Buffalo Sabres over the course of the 2019-20 season, where they find themselves double-digit points back of a playoff spot heading into February. Sabres general manager Jason Botterill says he, along with owners Terry and Kim Pegula are just as frustrated as the fans.
Botterill joined Mike Schopp and the Bulldog live at (716) Food and Sport on Tuesday ahead of the Sabres' matchup with the Colorado Avalanche at KeyBank Center.
Here's some of what he had to say during his visit:
Botterill on fans being frustrated:
"To put it bluntly, my conversations with Terry and Kim, they're frustrated with the results. They want better results, and the dialogue goes to, 'what are the solutions? What are we doing to get better?' But, from a management standpoint, it's one of the reasons I came to this organization, the resources are given to us to have success. Whether you want to rush a standpoint, to opportunity for developing our scouting staff, development staff, Rochester, they give us the resources. If you're frustrated with the results, challenge management. But, what our ownership has given us, they give us the tools to have success."
Botterill on no major moves being made this season:
"There's always urgency to do something. From day one on the job you want urgency to get the job done and move the organization forward. You look at our team, you look at portions of our season, we've played very well. But, over the course of the bulk of it, the majority of the season, we haven't gotten the results we wanted. And we can talk about the development of our star players, how they're having career years, but the entire group, we haven't done it well enough. So, I've talked to you about this before, we're always looking to improve the team. Am I going to do something drastic because it's imperative we do something right now? We're always looking to do something, but I'm not going to harm what this organization needs. It's about developing, and making it important long-term, but also have short-term success for our group."
Botterill when asked if he'd welcome a President of Hockey Operations above him:
"That's why I brought Randy Sexton onto my staff. He's a former general manager in the [National Hockey League]. That's why I brought in Steve Greeley, to be sort of our player personnel guy. I wanted to make sure I surrounded myself with people that brought in different ideas... To me, there's always different ways to develop a team, and I wanted to have a sort of diverse group that came in from there. I love the fact that my interction is directly with Terry and Kim. I respect that, and certainly think that's a strength of our organization. We've built people around there. I have strong ideas, and strong people providing ideas to me. What I like about my group is they're not afraid to challenge me on different things. I don't have a bunch of 'yes guys' around me. I feel comfortable with the management group we have, and we understand that we have to continue to be better."
Botterill on whether he's surprised this team isn't better:
"I think you're looking for development in your young players. You're looking for everyone to take that step. And I think this team has shown in October, and the difference from this team I'd say compared to last year, is last year after our 10-game win-streak, we never really got playing again and found our game, as Ralph [Krueger] would like to say. I thought this year, whether it was the start of December, played Nashville, St. Louis, Edmonton, the [New York] Islanders, you can look right before the break, having wins against Vegas, Dallas, having a good effort in Nashville, I felt we were making progress in those areas there. So, yeah, I think it's a situation where there's more to be given from this group."
Botterill on whether Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen will get a shot in Buffalo this season:
"Everything took a step back because of the offseason surgery, we understood that. You have to look at the long-term for a talented young kid like that. He's done his job at the ECHL level. I think it's great that now he's taken the roll of with [Andrew] Hammond in Rochester. The next step is for him to get games in there, and then take over that role, to be a go-to goalie at the American Hockey League level."
You can listen to the entire interview below:
