Dysfunctional Sabres Fire Coach and GM a Day After Jack Eichel Drama

The Buffalo Sabres announced Thursday that they've relieved head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Tim Murray of their duties.

Bylsma had been behind the bench for the team's last two losing seasons, leading the club to a combined 68-73-23 record since taking over at the start of 2015-16. Murray, meanwhile, was hired as general manager in January 2014, and was given the reigns to conduct a full top-to-bottom rebuild of a club that hasn't made the playoffs since 2010-2011, going through four head coaches in that time span and failing to create any organizational progress.

Statement from Sabres Owner Terry Pegula - — Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)April 20, 2017

The timing of the move, more so than the fact that it happened, is most curious. During the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is quite an awkward time to fire a head coach and GM previously pegged to lead the team through a rebuild, and even stranger that Bylsma and Murray were canned at the same time—a rarity in the NHL, and a straight up muscle-flexing power move by owner Terry Pegula.

The sudden timing of such a personnel move is not so surprising, however, when you consider the drama that went down with 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel just yesterday. It was reported on Wednesday that Eichel had "no desire to sign a contract extension this summer if Bylsma remains the coach," according to Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton. Shortly after the report surfaced, Eichel's agent adamantly denied the rumours, stating that his client is "100 percent on board with an extension and that Bylsma's status has "nothing to do with it." We'll probably never get the real story, but that hasn't stopped people from reading between the lines.

BREAKING: — Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski)April 20, 2017

the Buffalo Sabre's Wikipedia page has me crying rn — x-reem (@torontoleafer)April 20, 2017

Before joining the Sabres for a couple of tough seasons in Buffalo, Bylsma found success in Pittsburgh as a late-season hire in 2009, leading the team to its first Stanley Cup since 1992 and to five subsequent playoff appearances before being fired in 2014.

Murray was at the helm when the team finished dead last in 2013-14 and again in 2014-15, but made strides to help the club finish one game under .500 and 23rd overall last season, before another disastrous campaign saw the Sabres finish at the bottom of the Atlantic Division for the third time in four years. Murray inked a multi-year contract extension in October 2016, but it's been nothing but downhill for him and the Sabres, who seem to be caught in no man's land during a self-proclaimed rebuild.

Players simply run shit in professional sports nowadays, and owners are complicit. When a player of Eichel's stature speaks up, well, it's just a matter of time before the axe comes falling.