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Why the Rangers rebuild is working and Buffalo’s is a perpetual mess

By Drew Snyder

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 27: Alexis Lafreniere #13 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal at 9:49 of the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 27, 2021 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Sabres 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 27: Alexis Lafreniere #13 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal at 9:49 of the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 27, 2021 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Sabres 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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President and General Manager of the New York Rangers Glen Sather (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Management and coaching

When building a winning culture and having a successful franchise, stability in both the front office and behind the bench is key. Since 2011, the Rangers have had three general managers and four head coaches. The Sabres, on the other hand, have had four general managers and seven head coaches. The biggest difference between the two front offices is who has been running them. The Rangers had Glen Sather who has four Stanley Cups. Jeff Gorton, who was general manager for most of this Rangers rebuild, was responsible for acquiring the core pieces for Boston’s Stanley Cup in 2011. As interim general manager, he drafted Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, and Brad Marchand. He also traded Andrew Raycroft for goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask. He signed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. It’s important that after Sather, both Gorton and Chris Drury did not come from outside the organization.

The Rangers also had John Davidson as president who helped both Columbus and St. Louis become perennial playoff teams and has had long ties to the Blueshirts.

The Sabres have not had the same pedigree as the Rangers when it comes to management.  In 2013, Darcy Regier left the general manager position. He had held it since 1997. He is the Sabres’ winningest general manager. Since his departure, only Jason Botterill had been around any success as member of the front office. He was a part of the Pittsburgh championships as an assistant general manager.

The Rangers rebuild has only had one coach. David Quinn was brought in because the Rangers had a young team and as a college coach, he was supposed to know how to coach them. With the Rangers looking to make a playoff push. it was time to get a coach who to get to that next level. This is why they hired Gerard Gallant.

The Sabres can’t get out of their rebuild because they have struggled to find the right coach. In fact, they haven’t had a head coach for longer than two years since Lindy Ruff.

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