Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Sabres HC Don Granato on two-year extension: 'It was an easy yes'

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 10/12/22

Ahead of their 2022-23 season opener on Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres announced a two-year contract extension with head coach Don Granato.

In 2021-22, Granato's first full season as head coach, the Sabres finished 32-39-11 but saw real improvement toward the end of the year.

"This is the place I want to make right and I want to win here," Granato told Jourdon LaBarber via the Sabres' website. "And I think what we're building and the progression and the sequential movements that we'll see and continue to see, we are going to win here, we're going to be successful here doing what we're doing."

Donny G!

We have signed Head Coach Don Granato to a multi-year extension: https://t.co/18zYpvtB62 pic.twitter.com/hVCWsdpptT
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 12, 2022

The 55-year-old called the Sabres' two-year extension offer an "easy yes." Initially hired as an assistant coach in 2019, Granato was named interim head coach towards the end of the 2020-21 campaign replacing the fired Ralph Krueger.

"Don's passion for the game and leadership skills have been on display since the moment we met," Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said. "He is someone who the players have a tremendous amount of respect for, and he dedicates himself to bettering each individual on the team."

Over a season plus with Granato at the helm, the Sabres have gone 41-55-14.

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