MURRAY EXTENSION A MISTAKE
BY: STEVE SEIDE
Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula offered a multi-year contract extension to general manager Tim Murray on Thursday. It was a mistake.
A simple investigation of the facts reveals that by his own standards, Murray has fallen short of a job well done. On his hiring in January of 2014, taking over for Darcy Regier, Murray publicly stated, “I want to rebuild here properly, which takes time. But it doesn’t have to take years.”
It has taken 2.5 years so far. With just two injuries occurring as this season has begun, realistically, it will be at least 3.5 before the Sabres visit the playoffs. While Murray is not responsible for the injuries, he is accountable for the lack of depth that makes the injuries a problem.
Murray inherited a disaster, to be sure. The team was achieving historic depths of ineptitude. But, the Sabres haven’t fared much better since Murray took over. Their record is 64-111-23. That’s 64 wins and 134 losses. A winning percentage of just .323.
Last season, Buffalo still finished 23rd despite a 12-win and 27-point improvement. It’s not as if the Sabres could have been much worse after finishing last in each of the previous two seasons.
Murray has made 22 trades in his tenure. Even when giving him the benefit of the doubt when outcomes are relatively even and/or indiscernible yet (14 trades), only twice did his trades result well.
Drafting Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel took no special effort. Seven times Murray pulled the trigger in an unwise way. Here is a sampling of the big and misguided deals:
Nicolas Deslauriers and Hudson Fasching from Los Angeles in exchange for Brayden McNabb, Jonathan Parker, and two second-round picks. Deslauriers and Fasching have combined for 12 goals in 161 games with a -34 rating. McNabb has matured in to a dependable defenseman for the Kings, playing 153 games at about 18 minutes per game with a +22.
Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf from Winnipeg in exchange for Drew Stafford, Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, the rights to Brendan Lemieux and a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
The Sabres gave up all that basically for Bogosian and Kane. Kane has put up 35 points in 65 games. Not to mention his off ice struggles. Bogosian has played around 23 minutes per game with a -19 rating. Even a straight up comparison with Stafford (105 games, 57 points, -16 rating) and Myers (98 games, 42 points, +16 rating) shows that the Jets won this trade.
Securing the rights to Jimmy Vesey from Nashville in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft was silly. Why give up a draft pick just to be the first in line to talk with a player taken years earlier, as a third rounder, especially when he was outspoken about not signing until the rights expired.
Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn from Colorado in exchange for Nikita Zadorov, Mikhail Grigorenko, J.T. Compher and a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Sabres did get their de facto captain O’Reilly in this deal. But on the face of it, the Sabres acquired O’Reilly and a rented McGinn for two picks. While Zadorov and Grigorenko have taken time to adjust in Colorado, they are in their starting line-up. College star Compher had a strong preseason and will likely be the Avs first call-up. The jury is still out on this trade.
GMTM was able to re-sign stud defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. This move counters some terrible contracts in which Murray has given too much money for terms that are much too long. Gionta and Moulson are perfect examples. They have combined for 58 goals in 352 games, costing over $9M. They still have a combined four years under contract.
A contract extension for GMTM is not warranted. The playoffs are still nowhere in sight and the roster is unproven, if not weak. Buffalo fans deserve better than the reckless and clueless man in charge of the front office, now and in the future.