Gerry Meehan, one of the first Buffalo Sabres players and an influential GM, dies at 79

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Gerry Meehan, one of the Buffalo Sabres' first players who went on to an influential role as the team’s general manager, has died. He was 79.

The Sabres announced Meehan’s death on Saturday after being informed by a member of his family. The team said he died Friday. The cause of death and where Meehan died were not immediately available.

Meehan was from Toronto but essentially adopted Buffalo as his hometown as a player and eventual executive. As GM, he was responsible for acquiring eventual hall of famers Dominik Hasek, Pat LaFontaine, Alexander Mogilny and Dale Hawerchuk spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s.

His introduction to Buffalo came after splitting his rookie NHL season between Toronto and Philadelphia in being selected by the Sabres in the 1970 expansion draft.

The center went on to set up the franchise’s first goal in a two-assist outing in Buffalo’s first game. Meehan later became the team’s captain before being traded to Vancouver in October 1974.

Upon completing his 10-year NHL career and two games with Cincinnati of the World Hockey Association in 1978-79, Meehan returned to Buffalo to earn a law degree before joining the Sabres' front office in 1984 under general manager Scotty Bowman.

In replacing Bowman as GM during the 1986-87 season, Meehan oversaw numerous franchise-changing moves, including Mogilny’s defection from the Soviet Union in 1989. Meehan and Sabres player development director Don Luce traveled to Sweden, where Mogilny was competing in a tournament, and covertly ushered him back to North America.

Mogilny referred to Meehan as “my guiding light when I came into the NHL” during his induction speech last year.

In a statement released by the league, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman referred to Meehan as a “pillar of the franchise.”

“As shrewd and successful as he was on the ice and in the front office, Meehan had a significant impact on countless players and executives in recent years as a generous mentor and advisor,” Bettman added.

With Mogilny, Meehan rebuilt the Sabres by acquiring Hawerchuk in a trade with Winnipeg in 1990. A year later, Buffalo sent Pierre Turgeon to the New York Islanders to acquire LaFontaine, who would post a 148-point season playing alongside 76 goal-scorer Mogilny in 1992-93.

Meehan then oversaw what is considered among the NHL’s most one-sided trades, acquiring Hasek from Chicago in 1992. Buffalo gave up Stephane Beauregard and a fourth-round draft pick to land a player who would go on to become a two-time Hart Trophy-winner as NHL MVP and win six Vezina Trophy’s as the league’s top goalie.

Meehan’s tenure as GM ended following the 1995-96 season and he remained an active member of the Sabres Alumni Association.

As a player, he had 180 goals and 423 points in 670 career games, rounded out by stops in Washington and with the Atlanta Flames.

He is survived by his wife, Mirella, their children Dan, Adam and Kate, and grandchildren Christian, Alexander, Nathan and Juniper. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

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