'You have that belief' | Young players benefitted from being challenged

Tage Thompson felt a level of belief settle in among he and his Sabres teammates during the final two months of the season under interim coach Don Granato, even when wins did not follow.
The 23-year-old forward said he expects that feeling to carry over when the team returns next fall.

"I think nothing but excitement," Thompson said Tuesday when asked about his expectations for the future. "Obviously, we have a young core right now. I think a lot of guys are kind of in the same boat as where I'm at, where we've kind of gotten to that situation where we know we can take over games.
"… I think we have a lot of guys like that right now that are hungry to win and take over games and I think that's a dangerous thing when you have a core group like that. We saw it the last part of the season there. I know it's not the season we wanted, but I think the team is buying into what we are capable of. I think that's an exciting thing going into an offseason."

Thompson was among the players Granato challenged upon taking over in his interim role on March 17. The Sabres were mired in a winless streak that would soon reach 18 games. Veterans such as Jack Eichel and Jake McCabe were injured while others were soon traded in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
Granato coached with an eye toward the future. He not only iced a lineup that featured nine players under the age of 24 on most nights; he challenged them with high-leverage minutes and top-end matchups. The result was a crop of young players who began to take ownership of their place in the NHL.
"I think what we did that last month or so was just a glimpse of what we know we can do next year," rookie center Dylan Cozens said. "We've got a real good group here right now and a lot of guys that are hungry to win. I think we're all really excited to have a fresh start next season. We're all just going to work as hard as we can this offseason to come back and be a winning team."

Cozens, 20, at times found himself matched up with the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Sidney Crosby, or Patrice Bergeron under Granato. Other nights, those assignments were given to 22-year-old Casey Mittelstadt. On defense, the 21-year-old duo of Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju assumed top-pair responsibilities for most of the final two months.
The list goes on. Jacob Bryson, 23, had nights where he led the team in ice time. Mattis Samuelsson, 21, played well enough during his first pro season in Rochester to earn a 12-game stint with Buffalo paired alongside Rasmus Ristolainen. Arttu Ruotsalainen, 23, scored five goals in 17 contests.
"As a coach, you have nothing if you can't push guys," Granato said following the season finale in Pittsburgh on Thursday. "And I really felt the best thing was to be able to push guys. Guys wanted to be pushed. They wanted more. They felt they could give more, and they had more within themselves. And that was something very nice and very special to have as a coach."
The Sabres went 9-11-2 since snapping their winless streak on March 31. Within that stretch, they played 14 games against the four playoff teams from the East Division. They earned three wins when trailing after two periods, tied for most in the NHL during that span.
That belief, Thompson said, should bode well moving forward.
"I think playing with that consistency and battling every night is something that gives your team life," Thompson said. "Even if you aren't getting the wins, you still have that belief that if you're playing the right way things will turn around for you. I think that collectiveness we have in the locker room right now, the last couple months, was great."