Sabres Front Office Named Worst in NHL

The Sabres fan base gave the front office a D grade across the board, finishing dead last in all but one category. The Athletic had fans vote on categories like roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.

The only category the Sabres didn’t finish dead last in, according to their fans, was drafting and developing. The Sabres managed to climb to 29th in that category.

Even the public vote gave the Sabres dead last finishes in multiple categories, including vision.

68% of the surveyed fan base believe the Sabres are in a worse spot than they were a year ago and have a much lower overall confidence in the team.

“There is no fan base in hockey more frustrated than Buffalo’s, and rightfully so given the franchise’s abhorrent streak of futility,” Dom Luszczyszyn writes in the survey. “Over a decade without making the playoffs is not something that’s easily forgivable, especially when it doesn’t feel like there’s an end in sight.”

The Sabres haven’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons, and they’ve finished at the bottom of the NHL numerous times during that run. Another trip back to the playoffs doesn’t seem likely in the coming years, either, and the fans aren’t confident in the management group to turn things around.

This survey serves almost as a sequel to a similar survey done by the Atheltic that ranked Terry Pegula as the worst owner in the NHL. Receiving an F grade, Pegula took over the Sabres in 2011, the same year as the team’s last playoff appearance.

Buffalo has one of the most loyal fan bases in the NHL, yet they continue to have no hope in the team, front office or ownership. Things aren’t looking up yet and nothing much seems to be on the horizon in terms of change.