Buffalo Sabres Hire Dan Bylsma as Next Head Coach

MD

2015-05-28

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Dan Bylsma hired to be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres.

It had been rumoured for a while now, but word finally came down this afternoon that Dan Bylsma would be the next head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. This was initially reported by TSN's Darren Dreger.

It appears that the hold up on the official announcement was that the Pittsburgh Penguins were due compensation from any team that hired Bylsma. That compensation was in the form of a third round pick. Buffalo have none of those this year, so that's likely what the delay was. All the same, Disco Dan is the new bench boss for the Sabres.

Usually, when a team hires a coach, fantasy owners can look back at the coach's recent history to see some trends. With Alain Vigneault, it's obvious the Rangers would move away from the all-out shot blocking scheme of John Tortorella, while the Canucks would adopt Tortorella's style. When Michel Therrien was hired by the Habs, Therrien's recent history with Pittsburgh indicated that Montreal would not play a puck possession-style game, opting for defensively-oriented tactics (whether that worked or not is a matter of discussion).

One thing that Bylsma did do in Pittsburgh was balance out the ice time for guys not named Crosby or Malkin. That might limit the upside of guys like Evander Kane and Matt Moulson, because maybe they don't play 20-21 minutes a night, maybe more like 18 or 19. That's just speculation for now, but that's what Bylsma has done in the past for the non-superstars.

Buffalo is a team trending up (mainly because they couldn't possibly get worse) but expectations have to be tempered. Getting Bylsma doesn't suddenly turn the Sabres into an 85-point team. Or even an 80-point team. What it does do is bring a guy in who, by all accounts, is a "player's coach" and that should be good for the younger players. It seems a stark contrast from Ted Nolan. If he can take the younger players under his wing, and guide them, there is promise here down the road. For now, though, this doesn't change much fantasy-wise for the Sabres.