from Mike Harrnington of the Buffalo News,

It seems that Jason Botterill never got to the offer stage with Todd McLellan to quickly wrap up the Sabres coaching search. Whether their chats actually got to that point or not, McLellan's Buffalo-or-Los-Angeles dilemma gave another window into the Sabres' continued recruiting issues after years of losing hockey.

If you're a coaching candidate or free agent, the Sabres will overpay you to get you to come or hope you'll come (See Kyle Okposo and Mike Babcock). Players rave about how ownership takes care of them and their families while they're here as well. Housing and schools in the area are well thought of compared to other NHL cities.

But when it comes to hockey -- which is really the whole point -- what can the Sabres offer?

Winning? Of course not. Longest playoff drought in the NHL now. You'll hear that more than a few times in the next year, or until whenever it finally ends. The Bills got sick of it but they had to own all 18 years, just like the Sabres will have to own every bit since 2011 even though none of them have lived through it all.

continued plus other hockey topics not Buffalo related...