2013 – 14 Buffalo Sabres season The 2013 – 14 Buffalo Sabres season was the 44th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22 , 1970 . The Sabres moved to the revamped Atlantic Division , which included the previous season ' s Northeast Division with the addition of the Tampa Bay Lightning , Florida Panthers , and Detroit Red Wings . Ron Rolston , who started the season as head coach , was fired after 20 games and replaced by Ted Nolan , who had previously coached the team from 1995 to 1997 . Off - season . Ron Rolston was made the permanent head coach when Darcy Regier removed the interim tag from his title . Regier did not interview any other candidates for the position . Rolston replaced Lindy Ruff who was fired the season before after serving as head coach for nearly 16 seasons . Training camp . The Sabres ' training camp saw the arrival of many highly touted prospects into the Sabres ' lineup . Newly acquired first round picks Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov both made the opening day roster along with 2012 first round picks Mikhail Grigorenko , Zemgus Girgensons and 2011 first round pick Joel Armia . Armia and Zadorov were both injured in the preseason and would not play right away . The preseason saw the Sabres involved in a controversial game . In a road game at Toronto a fight between Corey Tropp and Toronto winger Jamie Devane ended with Tropp injured . On the ensuing faceoff Sabres ' enforcer John Scott lined up opposite to Phil Kessel and attempted to engage him in a fight . A line brawl followed in which 209 minutes in penalties were handed out including , 11 fighting majors and 14 10 - minute misconduct penalties . During the fight Leaf David Clarkson would leave the bench to fight . Clarkson would later be suspended by the NHL for 10 regular season games . Phil Kessel received a 3 preseason game ban for slashing Scott with the intent to injure . Sabres Coach Ron Rolston was fined an undisclosed amount for " player selection . " The fine was controversial due to the fact that Scott was on the ice the previous shift and the Leafs , being the home team , had last change . Corey Tropp suffered a broken jaw and concussion in the fight . The day before the start of the regular season Rolston named the new team captain . With the trade of team captain Jason Pominville the year before , the captaincy had remained vacant . Rolston used a rotating captaincy in the preseason . Steve Ott and Thomas Vanek were named co - captains for the 2013 – 14 season . Ott will wear the " C " for all road games and Vanek will wear it at home . Christian Ehrhoff will wear an " A " during all games . Regular Season . Opening the season with a lineup that featured Zemgus Girgensons , Mikhail Grigorenko , Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov , the 2013 – 14 Sabres were the first team since the 1995 – 96 NHL season to include four teenagers . On November 13 , 2013 , general manager Darcy Regier and head coach Ron Rolston were relived of their duties . Former Sabre Pat LaFontaine was hired as President of Hockey Operations ( a position that had been left vacant since the departure of Larry Quinn in 2011 ) and Ted Nolan was hired as the interim head coach . After hiring Ottawa Senators Assistant GM Tim Murray to the vacant General Manager position on January 9th , Pat LaFontaine resigned as President of Hockey Operations on March 1 , 2014 to return to his previous position with the NHL . The Sabres made numerous trades leading up to and right before the March 5th trading deadline . On February 28th they traded away veterans Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to the St . Louis Blues . Then on trade deadline day , March 5th , they made three separate trades with the Minnesota Wild , Washington Capitals , and Los Angeles Kings . Player stats . Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres . Stats reflect time with the Sabres only . Denotes player was traded mid - season . Stats reflect time with the Sabres only . Bold / italics denotes franchise record . Transactions . The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2013 – 14 season : Draft picks . Buffalo Sabres ' picks at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft , to be held in Newark , New Jersey on June 30 , 2013 .