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Top potential replacements for Don Granato as Sabres head coach
The writing was on the wall for Don Granato.
After three-plus years and zero playoff appearances, the 56-year-old was fired as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. He compiled a 122-125-27 record and never finished better than fifth place in the division.
Granato is the latest in a long line of mediocre Sabres coaches — a group that includes Ralph Krueger, Phil Housley, Dan Bylsma, Ted Nolan and Ron Rolston — who have failed to reach the postseason. Buffalo’s playoff drought now stands at 13 years.
“I want the next head coach to be someone that has [NHL] experience and can push this group to the next level,” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams told reporters on Tuesday. “Previous NHL head-coaching experience, pedigree is important.”
#LetsGoBuffalo fired Don Granato today. @mike_p_johnson on #NHL Morning Skate breaks down what this means for the team.
— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) April 16, 2024
https://t.co/LnsJOR3bbm pic.twitter.com/wCMrlS9nub
Below is a list of some of the top candidates to succeed Granato as Sabres coach.
Craig Berube
If a proven NHL track record is what Adams wants, then perhaps there’s no better candidate on the open market than Berube, who’s won a Stanley Cup and made the playoffs in five of the eight seasons he’s coached. He’s expected to be a hot commodity during the upcoming NHL coaching cycle.
Berube won 54% of his games as head coach of the St. Louis Blues, and he has a career points percentage of 58.4. The Sabres have a roster loaded with young, talented players, and Berube may be just the guy to turn them into a contender.
Dean Evason
Many feel Evason didn’t get a fair shake when he was fired by the Minnesota Wild just 19 games into the season. Prior to that, he had led Minnesota to three straight playoff appearances (four if you count his stint as interim coach the season before), and he consistently had the Wild finishing in the top three in the Central Division.
Evason spent six seasons (242-161-53 record) as the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, the American Hockey league affiliate of the Nashville Predators, so he has plenty of experience working with the young, up-and-coming players the Sabres have built their roster around, and he has a track record of winning everywhere he’s coached.
Gerard Gallant
Gallant, who’s led three of the four teams he’s coached to the playoffs, including guiding the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final during their expansion season in 2017, should be at the top of Adams’ list.
In 705 games, Gallant has a 57.4 points percentage and a 52.3 win percentage. He’s made the playoffs in five of his 11 seasons, and his teams have reached the 100-point plateau in two of his last five years. Gallant hasn’t coached since being fired by the New York Rangers during the 2022 season.
Jay Leach
Leach, an assistant with the Seattle Kraken, is the only one on this list with no previous head-coaching experience. However, he’s been right on the cusp of landing his first HC gig for the last few years, and he was a finalist for the Boston Bruins job two seasons ago before it went to Jim Montgomery.
Leach played parts of five seasons in the NHL but was also a decorated AHL player. He has experience as a head coach at the AHL level, he’s one of the more respected assistant coaches among his peers, and he helped the Kraken to a 100-point season and knock off then-defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in the playoffs last year.
More must-reads:
- Sabres fire head coach Don Granato
- Was it the right call for the Buffalo Sabres to fire Don Granato?
- The 'American League WAR leaders' quiz
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