Murray has to know he's probably gone after next season if the team doesn't make the playoffs. I expect some very aggressive moves this summer. We'll see if they work out.
That's what would scare me the most, though. We saw that with the Bills' Sammy Watkins trade. While a fantastic player, the value was too low for what they gave up.
If that is the idea the Pegulas have to step in if they don't like the long term implications. The problem goes away for Murray if he's fired, but not the Pegulas.
With that said, this team does need a major shake up. It is quite obvious that the defense is nowhere near where it should be. We can blame coaches, the players and / or the system, but it really comes down to one thing: they're not good enough.
Murray overestimated the ability of Kulikov, Bogosian and Gorges. Did injuries have a part? Absolutely. Was Gorges brought in for leadership as well? Yeah. But overall outside of Risto and McCabe this defense is horrific. That goes 100% onto Murray.
He traded away picks and Zadorov, which left the Sabres with no defensive prospects aside from Guhle. This team has 2 legitimate NHL quality defenseman and maybe one D prospect (Guhle) that can step into the NHL next year.
The Sabres have fantastic top end talent in Eichel, Reinhart, ROR, Okposo, Kane and Risto. So we have the tools now we just need the toolbox. Getting some depth players to fill out the bottom six and to acquire 2-3 defenseman is possible. The easy work was done by acquiring Eichel -- now the hard work must be done to get that value depth that we see the good teams have. That's what makes a GM good - look at Bowman and the Blackhawks. They're consistently drafting and signing players that seemingly come out of nowhere and contribute quality minutes.
This off season will really tell if Murray has the magic touch to acquire value depth.
Tl;Dr The Pegulas shouldn't allow Murray to mortgage the future-- they have a long term vision, don't let Murray give it away to keep his job.