The Buffalo Sabres removed the interim tag and have named Don Granato the official Head Coach, now what's next for Buffalo?

          Ok, there it is, the news all Sabres fans have waited for and for the most of us it's no surprise Donny boy got named the Head Coach. Now let me start by saying that I like this hire actually, then again I liked the hiring of Dan Bylsma and Phil Housley. The good news for Sabres fans is, any coaching hire was an upgrade on Ralph Krueger. I like Don Granato, I think he brings great energy to the rink every day and has shown that win or lose this team will compete night in and night out. Granato went 9-16-3 in 28 games as head man for the Sabres after the DISASTROUS  Ralph Krueger era. Now I know it's not the best looking butttt he took over in the midst of a 12 game losing streak and it's tough to break such a losing culture like the Sabres had. Granato lost his first 6 games before shit pumping the Flyers to end their skid. So take away those first 6 loses Granato's record is a little better. Now that the Sabres have their guy, what's next for the Sabres?
          Ugh I hate talking about this, mainly because I've talked about it at nauseum but....first up is, what's going to happen with Jack Eichel. Many/most big time NHL reporters have said Eichel's time is up in Buffalo and it's just a matter of time until they pull the trigger on trading him out. I gotta be honest this sucks and it sucks hard, I think Eichel could be a legit star in this league but once again the Buffalo Sabres management have completely bottled everything to do with Jack. For me? I think the main players in this are the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. All of these teams have something similar/very different to offer. The Rangers have been the most talked about but I get they can give us picks but I have no fuckin clue who the Sabres would get as far as players go from the Rangers. The Kings, Wild and Blue Jackets can offer us some pretty solid players and picks but It's definitely not anyone to build a complete team around, I'm not hating on these players being talked about but they ain't Jack. Two other teams have been rumored and to me this would be INSANELY far fetched but who the fuck knows. One is Toronto with Mitch Marner and a 1st round pick for Jack Eichel and holy fuck that would be absolutely insane, 2 of the top young players in the game being traded 1 and 1? Then there's Calgary, everyone knows Johnny Gaaudreau wants out and the other rumor is Matthew Tkachuk is on the outs with the team. This rumor is my favorite trade and it would be those 2 players a first round pick for Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, to be honest that would be one of the most insane trades in hockey history. Now what's gonna happen? I genuinely have no idea but Kevyn Adams better focus long and hard on the best return for Eichel, he needs to send him to the West coast so we never have to see him and we need to get a kings ransom for Eichel.
          Now let's fire these names off that are next and I'm sorry to say, it's a lot of big important parts of this team that could be out during this off season. Sam Reinhart is first, sad to say I think he's going to be another one that gets moved out, there is a ton of interest on Sam and to be honest I don't think he wants to sign here again the way management has fucked him around the past few years by making him continually sign a 1 year deal to prove himself. My prediction on Reinhart is we'll probably trade him for a 1st or 2nd round pick and a prospect, I have no clue where though. Rasmus Ristolainen is another big name and again....I think he's gonna be out. This is actually one I'm not overly upset about, Risto is a good player but he isn't good enough to be making $5.4 million/year. I think Risto actually is going to be sent to Jersey, talks seem to be heating up and we'll probably get like a 3rd and a 5th for him. Now we got two UFA's to talk about last, first we'll go with Linus Ullmark. Ullmark was probably the one bright spot outside of Reinhart this year for the Sabres. Despite not having a great win/loss record Ullmark player absolutely tremendous for Buffalo this year, he was Top 10 in much of the goalie stats and really did all he could to make this team competitive. Ullmark already said he is going to test free agency so, yup he gone. Jake McCabe. missed al lot of this season with a torn ACL but prior to being injured McCabe was a Top 10 d-man in this league. In all honesty? Maybe this is just my heart talking.....but I think McCabe is going to re-sign with the Sabres. If I'm Kevyn Adams and we plan on shipping these other 3 guys away and lose Ullmark? I give McCabe a long term contract and make him the new Captain of the team, to be honest for me it's the only move to make.
           Sadly only time will tell to see if the Sabres can turn this around, unfortunately I'm very pessimistic about this mainly because I've been waiting 10 plus years just to make the playoffs. I think the best move for Buffalo is for the Pegula's to step back and let the hockey guys take control of this situation. One thing I think this team should look to do is hire Ryan Miller as a goalie coach/consultant. Miller has a shit load of experience at the highest level of hockey and who better to teach 22 year old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen what he needs to know because Luukkonen is the future in net for the Sabres. Like I said....now we play the waiting game as Sabres fans....but, Fuck how long can we keep waiting?