Kevyn Adams GM thread

[Old Navy Goat]

It's funny how last season when they were high flying, scoring goals and came with in a point of making the playoffs everyone loved this team.

This season they take a step back, now they are no good. The toxicity is due to not giving this core a chance. I'm sure next season these guys will want out just like Eichel and the core before.

People enjoyed last year as they at least were entertaining. This year they suck, they're not exciting. With last year you could say, if they clean up their own end and get some better goal tending they could do damage.

 

[stealth1]

People enjoyed last year as they at least were entertaining. This year they suck, they're not exciting. With last year you could say, if they clean up their own end and get some better goal tending they could do damage.

This season they got better goaltending and have been better defensively. If the Power Play could do anything they would be right in the thick of the race.

 

[OkimLom]

It's funny how last season when they were high flying, scoring goals and came with in a point of making the playoffs everyone loved this team.

This season they take a step back, now they are no good. The toxicity is due to not giving this core a chance. I'm sure next season these guys will want out just like Eichel and the core before.

Last season they were inconsistent as well. Though the highs were very high, the lows were pretty similar to the lows we had this season. They were exciting to watch, but a lot of traits this team shows were very evident last season.

But it was the organization’s and players’ job to make sure they carried over anything positive from last season and learn from the negative. Instead of improving the roster talent level, they decided to run it back, hoping improvement from within only would be enough to be better than the other teams they were lumped in with. And the players regressed whether injuries played a role or not.

They are still poor defensively, with them getting quality goaltending from UPL this year saving their backsides, something they didn’t have last season, but the evidence is there when any other goaltending is in net.

They are not a good team. They were not a good team last season. There are a lot of areas within this organization that need to fundamentally change how they operate as professional hockey personnel. Whether that be management, the coaches, or the players (shoot, throw in the broadcast crew), they need to change how they approach the games, their opponents, and what they do to improve themselves.

Get through this season, see what you have, once again. Next season is a make it or break it season for all involved.

 

[toddkaz]

If thats the case then they might as well start a rebuild again. Trade Thompson, Cozens, Peterka, Quinn and Dahlin. Try for the 3rd time and maybe in 10 more years we will have a playoff team.

At this point I would welcome that. This fanbase doesn't deserve a winner ever due to the toxicity that it emits. No matter the move they do, this fanbase craps on it.

Ah yes its the fans fault they are losers. Who cares about the actual lives of the players on the ice because the fans don't deserve to win.

This is a really really really bad take.

Buffalo Sabres did have the best fan base in hockey. The team wasted that away by putting a trash product on the ice for 13 years but wait! Its the fans fault.

 

[stealth1]

Ah yes its the fans fault they are losers. Who cares about the actual lives of the players on the ice because the fans don't deserve to win.

This is a really really really bad take.

Buffalo Sabres did have the best fan base in hockey. The team wasted that away by putting a trash product on the ice for 13 years but wait! Its the fans fault.

I get it, they have been bad for 13 years. I do get the frustration. What bugs me is how many take the 13 years of no playoffs out on this young core.

It really is only the second full season with this core together and already many want to run them out of town. That's the toxicity that I'm talking about. Everyone is so quick to turn on this team with every set back.

The other thing is how quick many dismiss the idea of guys not wanting to play here being a major factor in why this team is being built the way it is. It is hard to get good vets to help the young guys out if the only guys that will play here is guys on the downside of their career. Same goes with trades with a lot guys with No Movement Clauses it limits the you to guys like Greenway.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

I get it, they have been bad for 13 years. I do get the frustration. What bugs me is how many take the 13 years of no playoffs out on this young core.

It really is only the second full season with this core together and already many want to run them out of town. That's the toxicity that I'm talking about. Everyone is so quick to turn on this team with every set back.

The other thing is how quick many dismiss the idea of guys not wanting to play here being a major factor in why this team is being built the way it is. It is hard to get good vets to help the young guys out if the only guys that will play here is guys on the downside of their career. Same goes with trades with a lot guys with No Movement Clauses it limits the you to guys like Greenway.

Nobody is taking anything out on this “young core”. They’re blaming the incompetent GM driving the future of this young core off a cliff because he has no idea how to build a team.

 

[stealth1]

Nobody is taking anything out on this “young core”. They’re blaming the incompetent GM driving the future of this young core off a cliff because he has no idea how to build a team.

I don't think he is incompetent at all. I think he has tried to get those players to augment this core. The problem is those guys don't want to come here unless you overpay. We all seen how that has played out.

 

[OkimLom]

I don't think he is incompetent at all. I think he has tried to get those players to augment this core. The problem is those guys don't want to come here unless you overpay. We all seen how that has played out.

How many more seasons until, we as a fanbase can hold Adams accountable for Buffalo not being an attraction destination to go to?

 

[BG82]

How many more seasons until, we as a fanbase can hold Adams accountable for Buffalo not being an attraction destination to go to?

Clearly our core wasn't ready this year.. Let's pump the brakes on Adams lack of making a move. In a way he was right to not add last off season.

We've been a playoff caliber team since the New Year. The story is getting old but you're lying to yourself if you genuinely believe we're not aove or two away from being a problem in the league

 

[stealth1]

How many more seasons until, we as a fanbase can hold Adams accountable for Buffalo not being an attraction destination to go to?

You can replace Adams with the best GM in the league and the issue with not change much. Winning will not make Buffalo an attraction destination. Buffalo is in the same boat as Winnipeg. Players don't want to play in those cities. It's why Winnipeg built mostly through the draft. Their main core are guys they drafted. It's what Adams is trying to do here. It's also why I believe he doesn't want to trade the prospects as they don't have much of a choice.

Top free agents have no interest in coming here and the good players that could be traded for, most have no movement clauses.

Look at Hertl, while the deal was one that Buffalo could top Vegas, he was not going to waive to come here. I'm sure Adams would love to add top vets to help this core, it's hard when most good players have no interest in coming here. His quote of wanting guys that want to play says a lot.

 

[Fjordy]

Clearly our core wasn't ready this year.. Let's pump the brakes on Adams lack of making a move. In a way he was right to not add last off season.

We've been a playoff caliber team since the New Year. The story is getting old but you're lying to yourself if you genuinely believe we're not aove or two away from being a problem in the league

I hear this every year and nothing changes. Stop making excuses for these people's incompetence. They are constantly lacking something and it is their fault, because they cannot or do not want to do everything for the team to reach the playoffs. Buffalo are the biggest losers in the NHL, that's reality. At first, Adams couldn’t set up the roster, not finding goalie and a top 4 defender before last season, now there are problems with the coach and nothing is happening either. He makes some trades (usually just filler), but this team has no identity, no character for the whole season, they are soft and weak morally and Adams and his protégé Granato are behind it all.

 

[Steddy33]

Clearly our core wasn't ready this year.. Let's pump the brakes on Adams lack of making a move. In a way he was right to not add last off season.

We've been a playoff caliber team since the New Year. The story is getting old but you're lying to yourself if you genuinely believe we're not aove or two away from being a problem in the league

What are you talking about? He needed to put the core in a better situation to succeed. In all seriousness this has got to be one of the most homer glasses takes I have ever read of this board. Everyone knew this team needed a veteran goalie in the offseason. Instead they marched into the season thinking a kid straight out of college was going to be a starting NHL goalie. It was embarrassingly bad. They also thought Tyson Jost was going to be a reliable 4th line center. He is a 13th forward at best. Erik Johnson was retirement level last season. Olofsson isn't and hasn't been an NHL player. Okposo was done. The easy thing to do is overpay reliable veteran 4th line players. They act like the 4th line doesn't matter and just throw whatever garbage they have lying around out and call it a fourth line. All that is just what was wrong with the offseason. Don't even get me started on the actual joke of a season. This is the NHL and they act like they have zero accountability to perform. Because they have zero accountability to preform at all levels of this organization. They will continue to suck because of it.

 

[TehDoak]

You can replace Adams with the best GM in the league and the issue with not change much. Winning will not make Buffalo an attraction destination. Buffalo is in the same boat as Winnipeg. Players don't want to play in those cities. It's why Winnipeg built mostly through the draft. Their main core are guys they drafted. It's what Adams is trying to do here. It's also why I believe he doesn't want to trade the prospects as they don't have much of a choice.

Top free agents have no interest in coming here and the good players that could be traded for, most have no movement clauses.

Look at Hertl, while the deal was one that Buffalo could top Vegas, he was not going to waive to come here. I'm sure Adams would love to add top vets to help this core, it's hard when most good players have no interest in coming here. His quote of wanting guys that want to play says a lot.

Plenty of players go to Pittsburgh, Columbus, Detroit, Ottawa, heck Winnipeg just extended most of their veteran core.

Winning matters. Buffalo hasn’t make the playoffs in 13 years. Ownership doesn’t spend to the cap.

The market is never going to be a marquee destination. But until we have competent management and committed ownership, we won’t even be in competition with other small market cold weather teams.

The Bills attract free agents in the same market. Because they win their division every year.

The market is a problem but it’s not THE problem. Poor management and ownership are.

 

[OkimLom]

Clearly our core wasn't ready this year.. Let's pump the brakes on Adams lack of making a move. In a way he was right to not add last off season.

We've been a playoff caliber team since the New Year. The story is getting old but you're lying to yourself if you genuinely believe we're not aove or two away from being a problem in the league

Our core wasn’t ready last year as well. You don’t just sit around and wait for your core to develop. You look at where your team has weaknesses, look to address those issues, then when your core is ready, for whatever that entails, you then move onto the next steps/holes on the team if there are any. You continue to evolve your team regardless of how ready the core is.

To be a problem in the league, you have to be consistently a good team. Those aren’t moves away, those are matters that deal with individual players collectively performing night and night out at a high level.

This team hasn’t shown an ability to do that under Donnie and Adams. It was easy to forgive in the beginning but still was troubling to see. At this point they should be able to do so.

Our goaltending has been playoff caliber since the New Year, and even that is strictly UPL. The team in front of the goaltending has been terrible and inconsistent.

The team has a long way to go before they are a problem for the league. Hell, they’re not even a problem for the league to defend the middle of the ice in games. In the standings? Good luck with that.

 

[joshjull]

Not wanting to misconstrue your post. Are you saying the returning top line is good enough or are saying KA believes it is? We have a record that shows it is not. If KA believes it is, or that our second lines is or that the rest are the answer, then we are no farther ahead than we were the day he took over. Goaltending from year is never a given either.

That Adams believes it. At the very least he believes he has his top 2 centers and the pieces for the top 3 lines. I don’t see him trading Mitts if he didn’t have faith in Tage/Cozens and in Krebs potential.

 

[Tatanka]

That Adams believes it. At the very least he believes he has his top 2 centers and the pieces for the top 3 lines. I don’t see him trading Mitts if he didn’t have faith in Tage/Cozens and in Krebs potential.

Got it. I don’t agree with him. Oh well. Nice day here. Time to get outside

 

[BFLO]

I want to acknowledge that, with this move, Adams did generally what I wanted him to do.

I've been critical of Adams not making any decisions about the roster. He had yet to trade any one significant away, or even let any fringe players go after last year. It sounded like he was just treading water hoping that everything would work out eventually.

Well, like it or not, this trade was a bold decision. He decided not to commit to Mitts long term and then sold high to increase our talent level on the back end.

I had been very critical of not capitalizing on opportunities to improve the D and not being willing to give anything up to get it done. Even moments before the trade yesterday, I was pointing out that he was missing potential opportunities, but with this trade, he capitalized on an opportunity. You can make an argument that if he was going to trade Casey, he should have waited til the off season to maximize what he could get back. But there was an opportunity to acquire a young player with big potential on D, and he moved decisively to get it done now. Credit where credit is due.

We'll see whether these were specifically the right decisions in the long run, but I want to at least acknowledge that he did what I felt needed to be done, despite the risk.

The Mitts decision isn't being decisive or bold, it's kicking the can down the road on being decisive about the rest of the team. Byram is a nice piece for the future, not the present. This trade was a commitment to maintaining the "treading water" status quo.

Adams has yet to make a decision that improves the team in the present.

 

[toddkaz]

Its amazing when you see teams like Detroit, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Edmonton.

Its incredible seeing Vancouver and Edmonton change their coach and the teams take off.

Philadelphia and Detroit don't have a more talented team then Buffalo.

Its extremely frustrating Adams hitched his wagon to Granato.

 

[dasaybz]

Its amazing when you see teams like Detroit, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Edmonton.

Its incredible seeing Vancouver and Edmonton change their coach and the teams take off.

Philadelphia and Detroit don't have a more talented team then Buffalo.

Its extremely frustrating Adams hitched his wagon to Granato.

I don't think he hitched his wagon to Granato. He's mostly likely gone at the end of the year. There's always next year hahaha fml

 

[buffalowing88]

Plenty of players go to Pittsburgh, Columbus, Detroit, Ottawa, heck Winnipeg just extended most of their veteran core.

Winning matters. Buffalo hasn’t make the playoffs in 13 years. Ownership doesn’t spend to the cap.

The market is never going to be a marquee destination. But until we have competent management and committed ownership, we won’t even be in competition with other small market cold weather teams.

The Bills attract free agents in the same market. Because they win their division every year.

The market is a problem but it’s not THE problem. Poor management and ownership are.

The Bills attract players predominantly from the Southern US. That's where the majority of the good athletes come from. 15 years ago, they would have avoided Buffalo like the plague. Now, it seems like the best AFC teams are cold-weather teams.

The Sabres operate in a market within a two or three hour drive of pretty much every major prospect's hometown.

I'm a pessimist but the Sabres aren't screwed on location. They are screwed because there is a losing culture that looks at the team like a black cloud and an owner who probably does mean well, but can't get out of his own way.

 

[TehDoak]

I don't think he hitched his wagon to Granato. He's mostly likely gone at the end of the year. There's always next year hahaha fml

I’d be very surprised if they fired Granato this summer.

 

[Bobby Bottle Service]

If the very recent changes tell GMKA anything... the slower players need to go. A minuscule sample size, but the Sabres got inside of EDM's defense frequently. If some of the posts went in, this game wouldn't have been close.

Shame on GMKA for not making these changes sooner.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

If the very recent changes tell GMKA anything... the slower players need to go. A minuscule sample size, but the Sabres got inside of EDM's defense frequently. If some of the posts went in, this game wouldn't have been close.

Shame on GMKA for not making these changes sooner.

They play better when they think smart and think fast, which makes it look like they skate fast. The fastest skaters have looked slow all season because they consistently make bad plays and bad mistakes.

They looked fast because Skinner and JJP were benched.

 

[toddkaz]

I don't think he hitched his wagon to Granato. He's mostly likely gone at the end of the year. There's always next year hahaha fml

Granato will be the coach next year. You can count on it.

 

[May Day 10]

Plenty of players go to Pittsburgh, Columbus, Detroit, Ottawa, heck Winnipeg just extended most of their veteran core.

Winning matters. Buffalo hasn’t make the playoffs in 13 years. Ownership doesn’t spend to the cap.

The market is never going to be a marquee destination. But until we have competent management and committed ownership, we won’t even be in competition with other small market cold weather teams.

The Bills attract free agents in the same market. Because they win their division every year.

The market is a problem but it’s not THE problem. Poor management and ownership are.

Yes to this.
The Sabres will always be disadvantaged due to the attractiveness of the city to 20-something millionaires and tax situation. (however, we have the proximity to Ontario and the East time zone thing).

Nothing is stopping this organization from becoming a gold standard organization in the NHL other than terrible ownership (and by extension management). They have been plagued by it to some degree since the late 90s, so it is engrained in everyone involved with the sport. Under Pegula it has gotten worse, and under "economic, efficient, and effective" with Adams, it has cratered. Players come here and their production, numbers (and earning potential) wither. The team is reluctant to replace ineffective coaching staffs the same as other teams do routinely.
The treatment of people like LaFontaine and Eichel also are a factor, as well as the culling of the front office staff at the pandemic.
Then we have a GM who was previously picking families for the Jr Sabres as the GM, and a head coach with no business coaching in the NHL. Neither would be hired elsewhere laterally if they were let go today.

I have said it a lot, but they need a large "under new management" signal to the rest of the hockey world. Pegula would have to change drastically and hire someone who has a ton of credibility and is well-liked and respected as the Team President, and signal that the President has full autonomy and plentiful resources to build a top professional hockey program.

This is not going to happen anytime soon. We are going to be stuck under Adams for at least 2-3 more seasons, and probably stuck with Granato for at least another half season before they slide Appert in there.