The Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula today announced that the Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant GM Jason Botterill will be the new General Manager of the Sabres. The formal announcement and press conference will be held at 4pm today.
IT’S OFFICIAL! Jason Botterill has been named General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres. pic.twitter.com/RSyHIGnJ7c
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) May 11, 2017
In a statement released on the Sabres website, he said –
“We are very happy to welcome Jason Botterill to the Buffalo Sabres family. Jason’s hockey knowledge, experience drafting and developing players, and his approach to management stood out to us during our interview process. Jason has built a solid reputation as a leader that connects strongly with players and staff around him. We are confident he will have a positive impact within our organization and will help us get to our ultimate goal.”
Botterill is a former Sabres player as well, playing for the franchise between 2002-04 as a left winger. At just 40 years old, he’ll be the second youngest GM in the NHL. More interesting facts about the Edmonton native can be found in this article here.
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Previous to his time at the Pens, Botterill was a scout with his first NHL team, the Dallas Stars. He also played at the Atlanta Thrashers and Calgary Flames before coming to the Sabres the first time. The former Wolverine also went back in 2007 to get a MBA.
From @umichhockey to Buffalo to @penguins & back to Buffalo, Jason Botterill’s journey to @NHL GM – https://t.co/LONZX0x3nd pic.twitter.com/tjRvHFKub2
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) May 11, 2017
With the GM now in place, the focus for the ownership now changes towards finding a head coach that will match Botterill and the Pegulas’ vision for where they see the Sabres.