Trottier not renewed by Sabres

Swift Current Broncos legend Bryan Trottier won't be back behind the Buffalo Sabres bench next season.

After one season as an assistant coach with the Sabres Trottier's contract was not renewed. Buffalo also let go of head coach Ted Nolan and most of the rest of his staff.

"Today I came to the decision that a change may help us improve," said Sabres GM Tim Murray. "That was it."

The Sabres were never expected to compete for a playoff spot as they had a very young team with some limited veteran support. Buffalo wound up with the worst record in the NHL.

"I don't know if I was disappointed," Murray said. "We decided to go with young guys for a rebuild and surround them with high character veterans... we still finished in 30th place. There have been a lot of changes here and that's on me."

The Sabres hired Nolan before hiring Murray as General Manager last season. Murray did give Nolan an extension once last season wrapped up.

"It was never about that he wasn't my guy," Murray said. "It was about can we have a great relationship. We didn't have a great relationship we had a decent relationship."

This job with Buffalo was Trottier's return to coaching for the first time in eleven years. He had previously worked as a head coach, assistant coach and director of player development in the NHL.

Trottier's coaching career followed a Hall of Fame playing career with the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. The former Hart Trophy winner played junior for the Swfit Current Broncos and was raised in Val Marie.