The Buffalo Sabres fired coach Don Granato on Tuesday, making him the seventh coach to be ousted during what’s grown into an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought.
The move was announced by the team a day after the Sabres closed their season with a 4-2 win at Tampa Bay. They finished with a 39-27-6 record and had been eliminated from playoff contention last week.
Granato, 56, completed his third full season in Buffalo after taking over on an interim basis in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2021 season after Ralph Krueger was fired. And the move comes with Granato still having two seasons left on his contract, which featured an extension that kicked in to start next season.