Former Sabres boss Jason Botterill named Seattle Kraken's general manager

Jason Botterill's time as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres came to an unexpected and abrupt end nearly five years ago when he was fired by owners Terry and Kim Pegula.

Botterill's long wait for another opportunity ended Tuesday when he was named executive vice president and general manager of the NHL's Seattle Kraken. Ron Francis was elevated from that role to president of hockey operations in a shakeup that included the firing of former Sabres coach Dan Bylsma, who led Seattle for only one season. 

"These changes reflect our commitment to becoming a sustained playoff team," Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said. "Ron has done an excellent job of building our hockey operations and setting a solid foundation.

"Our new, enhanced structure will allow Ron to continue shaping our long-term vision while empowering Jason day-to-day. Jason knows our team and the league well, and I am so pleased he is taking the next step in his career with the Kraken."

Botterill, 48, spent the past five years as Seattle's assistant general manager and helped build the hockey operations department of the expansion franchise. He has lived in Michigan while Francis ran the team, but another disappointing season convinced Kraken ownership to make a change. The club reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023, then finished with 81 and 76 standings points over the past two seasons.

His firing in Buffalo was an infamous moment in the history of the Sabres. A few weeks prior, Kim Pegula endorsed Botterill in an interview with The Associated Press. Behind the scenes, however, Kevyn Adams and the Pegulas were concocting a new plan for the Sabres' hockey operations. Botterill was fired after he refused to run the team in Terry Pegula's vision that the owner summarized in three words, "Effective, efficient and economic." 

Adams was hired as general manager, even though he had no experience in a high-ranking hockey operations role. The retired NHL center and Clarence native was vice president of hockey operations for several months, a role that included a directive from ownership to evaluate Botterill's staff and performance.

After accepting the job of general manager, Adams fired 21 employees over the phone in one day. The bloodletting included Botterill's assistant general managers, both of whom were given contract extensions months earlier, and most scouts. Adams didn't hire anyone with experience until the final weeks of the disastrous 2020-21 season, which included an 18-game winless streak that cost Ralph Krueger his job as coach.

Botterill was on the job for three drafts, only two with his amateur scouting director, Ryan Jankowski, and the Sabres had a .442 points percentage with their regime. Both of Botterill's coaching hires, Krueger and Phil Housley, lasted fewer than three seasons, but most of that time was spent trying to rebuild a culture that was destroyed during Tim Murray's time as general manager. Botterill had to move away from players who were negative influences on the franchise's star players.

Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly were traded. Zach Bogosian's contract was eventually terminated. Robin Lehner's qualifying offer wasn't picked up by the club. Botterill prioritized leadership, culture and playoff experience as he tried to build around Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and, eventually, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, Rasmus Dahlin. 

Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno were traded in a deal that brought Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella to Buffalo. Nicolas Deslauriers was traded for minor-league defenseman Zach Redmond. Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick were brought in from Pittsburgh. The defense corps needed to be rebuilt, while Murray's goaltending plan fell part because of Lehner's off-ice issues. 

Botterill's biggest trade happened in June 2018, when O'Reilly was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Tage Thompson, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, a 2019 first-round draft pick and a 2021 second-round draft pick.

The initial returns led to harsh criticism for Botterill and the Sabres. O'Reilly won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis, Berglund quit on the Sabres only 23 games into the 2018-19 season, Sobotka was a middling role player who complained about his role, and Thompson struggled until he was sent to the Rochester Americans. Thompson eventually developed into one of the NHL's best goal-scorers, but neither draft pick has amounted to anything. 

Jeff Skinner was also acquired in the summer of 2018 to give Eichel a goal-scoring left wing. Skinner produced 40 goals in his first season, then Terry Pegula pushed Botterill to sign the aging forward to an eight-year contract extension. Skinner played five more seasons with Buffalo, before he was bought out by Adams.

Although the Skinner contract wasn't Botterill's doing, he was responsible for the team failing to sign Sam Reinhart to a long-term contract. Reinhart was given multiple bridge contracts until he told Adams in the fall of 2020 that he wouldn't sign with Buffalo again. The team traded Reinhart to Florida in 2021 for a first-round draft pick that became Jiri Kulich, and goalie prospect Devon Levi. Botterill also chose not to sign prospect Brandon Hagel, who went on to score 20-plus goals four times. Hagel scored a career-high 35 goals with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season.

One of Botterill's best trades happened before the trade deadline in 2019, when he acquired defenseman Brandon Montour for the first-round draft pick that the Sabres acquired for Kane. Montour didn't realize his potential in Buffalo, however. Housley was fired and replaced with Krueger, who didn't like Montour's style of play. Montour was eventually traded for a third-round draft pick, and he went on to win a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. He reunited with Botterill in Seattle last summer by signing a seven-year contract with the Kraken.

Many of Botterill's acquisitions didn't pan out, such as Michael Frolik and Jimmy Vesey, but ownership didn't give Botterill time to see whether his draft picks would materialize into impactful NHLers. During his time as general manager, Botterill drafted Casey Mittelstadt, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Jacob Bryson, Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Dylan Cozens, Ryan Johnson and Erik Portillo. Dahlin, Samuelsson, Luukkonen and Bryson are the only ones still with the team.