DON'T LOOK NOW BUT HE DID IT!!
With the Sabres announcing Don Granato as the interim head coach of the floundering Buffalo Sabres, it was difficult for anyone to have high expectations. Even with Don coming in with some decent credentials, he has not derailed any "we still need a top end coach” tweet.
That said in just 1 game and 1 postponed game, the 20th head coach in Sabres history did what Ralph seemingly couldn't do. CHANGE THE LINES SO THEY MAKE SENSE. This move alone has given this die-hard Sabres fan some pause for thought.
Now I should preface this blog with - the Sabres are not making the playoffs this year and are all but guaranteed to extend their playoff drought to 10 consecutive misses…...sorry.
At the time of writing this, Don has made extras out of Eakin and Reider, placed Matt Irwin and Davidsson on the Sabres 4th d line during practice. Which tells me Don is ACTUALLY evaluating his teams’ strengths instead of being scared to hurt feelings.
As I've stated many times before I both respect and appreciate Kyle Okposo, but he also needs to be removed from active duty (News just released Okposo suffered an injury in practice, has not made the road trip). Understanding that the Rochester Americans are dealing with some covid-19 related issues-my suggestion would be to call up Arttu Ruotsalainen and ask him to play on his off-side wing when they are cleared for call ups again. I know that may not be a great thing, but I feel that it would be better than Okposo.
The rest of the lineup make sense. For example, playing Skinner with Lazar, as the two of them have found some great chemistry lately and if they can continue to feed off each other- we could see something resembling success from a third line. Cozens coming back from injury and heading to the top line center isn't ideal- especially fresh off the injury, but the best of an injury ridden lineup.
If Don does this and continues this train of logical lineup decisions, he may very well find some success for the remainder of the season and he may find some support to continue coaching the Sabres.
KEEP IT UP DON