The Buffalo Sabres are about to start a seven-game homestand on Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, as they look to get back into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. As of now, the Sabres currently sit three points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot with 56 points.
Sabres general manager Jason Botterill joined Schopp and the Bulldog at (716) Food and Sport on Friday to discuss the team's lack of success as of late, the development of young players on the roster, the team's approach to the NHL trade deadline and more.
Here is some of what Botterill had to say:
On the team's defensive woes as of late:
The west coast trip was clearly an indication of where our team is at right now. The two games we lost, I liked how we played, I liked the puck control, I liked how we set things up. But we had some huge mistakes that ended up being in the back of our net. You can talk about goalie save percentage too, but we're leaving them out to dry too much. We're giving way too many quality chances right in front of our net."
On the team's play despite the lack of wins:
"You just look at how we play right now, the results aren't there and that has to improve. But I like our puck possession, I like how we're controlling the puck a lot more... Now, it's going from controlling the puck to generating more chances right in front of the net.
On the team's status for the trade deadline:
"There's still a lot of teams trying to figure out 'are they going to be buyers or sellers leading up the deadline?' You saw Toronto and L.A. right off the bat a week ago [with the Jake Muzzin trade] and obviously today with Pittsburgh [acquiring Nick Bjugstad]. There's posturing, there's teams that want to improve their team right now. So yeah, there's certainly a lot of communication right now.
"We understand where we're at as an organization, we're trying to find that balance, because we understand how important being in the playoff hunt is. When we say 'young players', I usually think of young players, I'm thinking about Casey [Mittelstadt], Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson. But who else is a very young player still is Jack [Eichel] and Sam Reinhart, and it's important that these guys are part of a playoff race."
"So you're balancing that act of making sure that we try to hold on to young assets, young picks so that improves our depth down the road. That, and these young players coming through the system. But it's also find that balance of making sure that we stay in this race to help these guys get the experience of being in a playoff race and eventually getting playoff games."
You can listen to the entire interview below:
