‘“Last season was just the first step,” Buffalo assistant general manager Josh Flynn said. “It was awesome to get over that hump. It was a great experience for all of our young core players. Now they know what it takes, they know how to win. They’ve been there, they’ve seen it. Look, the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, not just make it to Game 7 of the (Eastern Conference) second round. So they’ve gotten through one huge hurdle and now there’s that belief and knowledge that they can win and will continue to grow from there.”​’