Botterill to return as Sabres GM, says improvement 'imperative'

Jason Botterill, who will return as Buffalo Sabres general manager next season, said it's "imperative" they improve after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NHL.

Buffalo (30-31-8) finished 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres are 88-115-30 since Botterill was hired May 11, 2017 and did not qualify for the playoffs after not making the Eastern Conference Qualifying Round as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan announced Tuesday.

"Look, I think there's always pressure with this position," Botterill said Wednesday. "I know how hard our players are working and how hard our coaches are working. I want them to have success out on the ice. My responsibility's not going to change. I have to continue to build this organization to be strong at all levels ... whether it's goaltending, defense, forwards. It's imperative that we get stronger in these spots.

"I think we're on the path to doing that, but it's important that continues to grow however long this offseason is. ... We'll see what's available from a free agency standpoint, see what's available from a trade standpoint, where that we feel at least comfortable we've put ourselves in a position to have a stronger team for next year."

Buffalo president and co-owner Kim Pegula told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Botterill will return next season.

"He's our GM," Pegula said. "Our plan is to continue with him."

The Sabres have the seventh-best odds (6.5 percent) to win the NHL Draft Lottery and the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. The First Phase of the draft lottery, which includes the seven teams that missed the postseason, will be held June 26.

"I realize, maybe it's not popular with the fans, but we have to do the things that we feel are right," Pegula said. "We have a little bit more information than maybe a fan does, some inner workings that we see some positives in.

"Believe me, I don't think anyone knows the frustrations more than [co-owner] Terry [Pegula] and I do. Coach (Ralph Krueger) and Jason know they've got to show not only us, but they've got to show it to the fans. And they know that. They understand that."

Botterill said: "That's nothing surprising from our standpoint, we understand that, we understand that's part of pro sports. In my communication with Ralph, we see them both being intertwined. ... We want our young players to step in and put them in positions where they can succeed, where they can help out our core players right away, and so that's what we're talking about.

"So that gets us excited, and we have players who are certainly interactive with our performance staff, with our coaches on what the little things they have to work on to become better NHL players. And so we have that internal development to help win games, and as a GM my responsibility is to oversee that development but also see what players are on the market through trades and free agency that we can come in and help him support these guys."

The Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9) clinched the final Qualifying Round berth in the East with a .500 points percentage ahead of the Sabres, whose .493 points percentage was their best since 2015-16.

"Listen, we should've won another game or two back in the day. We didn't," Kim Pegula said. "So that's no fault of any other club. That's on us."

The Sabres started 8-1-1 and were 16-11-6, second in the Atlantic Division, following a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Dec. 12.

Center Jack Eichel led the Sabres with 78 points and was eighth in the NHL with 36 goals. He scored 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) during an NHL season-high 17-game point streak Nov. 16-Dec. 17. Rookie forward Victor Olofsson scored 20 goals despite missing 15 games with an ankle injury. Goalie Linus Ullmark won an NHL career-high 17 games.

But it wasn't enough. Buffalo went 1-6-1 in its next eight games after Dec. 12 and was 1-6-0 in its final seven games before the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"This isn't how any of us envisioned our 50th season coming to a close," the Sabres said in a statement. "Our promise to Sabres fans is that we will come back stronger as a team and as a community. We cannot thank you enough for your loyalty. We can't wait to get back on the ice."

NHL.com Independent Correspondent Heather Engel contributed to this report