The Athletic LeBrun: Jack Eichel trade a year later, and how Sabres are building to ‘compete every year’

[Jim Bob]

LeBrun: The Jack Eichel trade a year later, and how Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is building to 'compete every year'

With the Sabres off to a 7-3-0 start, GM Kevyn Adams discusses two turbulent years and how the team has emerged as a 2022-23 surprise.

theathletic.com

It’s a fan base that deserves to be enjoying hockey again.

No one involved with the Sabres is getting carried away over a 7-3-0 start, but it is at least nice to see so many feeling good about what’s going on in Buffalo.

The Sabres are fun to watch, they’re playing for each other, and there’s an evident belief in the dressing room in what they’re about.

And to think, just 2 1/2 years ago when Kevyn Adams was named general manager, he was having to answer some pretty tough questions in his market about the direction of this team after what felt like a lost decade for the franchise.

Adams had a few of those media availabilities during the pandemic, to be sure. They weren’t easy. But he tried to be transparent about the road ahead. For a rookie GM at the time, one thing I remember is that he didn’t sugarcoat the reality of the moment after his hiring in June 2020.

Which makes the path he took to today that much more impressive.

“When I think back at the beginning, the most important thing, in my opinion, was to just be honest,” Adams told The Athletic on Thursday. “Just tell the truth about exactly where we were and why. I talked a lot about how we needed to learn from the past but we couldn’t live in the past. Just understanding where we were and just trying to be honest about how we have a vision, we have a plan, we’re going to stick to the plan, and we’re not going to get caught up in the emotion of it.

“In saying that, I totally understood from the fan base the perspective of frustration. So you just had to face it head-on and do your best.”

I liked how PLB wrapped up the article, too:

Veteran GM Don Waddell has known Adams for a long time and isn’t surprised by the overall work he’s seen from the young Sabres GM.

“I knew Kevyn as a player, I had him in the U.S. program,” the Hurricanes GM said Thursday. “The type of player he was, he wasn’t given anything. He had to work for everything he got. Same for him now as a GM. He won’t be granted anything. He’s going to have to work for it, but that’s what he’s doing. So far it’s worked out pretty good for him.”

Adams, meanwhile, was entering the final season of his contract as GM before signing an extension in September. It was during those conversations with ownership that he expressed a desire to also extend his head coach even though Don Granato still had this season and next left on his deal. The two-year extension recently signed by Granato means he’s signed through 2025-26. For a franchise that’s had a turnstile turnover at coach and GM in the past decade, that’s needed stability.

“When I was having discussions with Terry Pegula about my own personal situation, one thing I made very clear is that I want to be here, and I’m excited about the future and moving forward, but it was a No. 1 priority to align Donnie and extend his contract,” Adams said. “I just feel he’s been so important for the group in terms of the way he handles himself every day, the development mindset that he has with his background, his ability to understand and work with younger players, and really the influence he’s had on the players and the coaching staff.

“Just to push and continue to get better every day. Also understanding that you’re going to go through ups and downs, especially with younger players.”

There are indeed more ups and downs coming, but the overarching path seems evident. The Sabres are back.

Click to read more...

 

[TehDoak]

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious:

“When I think back at the beginning, the most important thing, in my opinion, was to just be honest,” Adams told The Athletic

“The message from ownership is, ‘We’ll give you every opportunity and every resource you need to succeed.’

 

[Dubi Doo]

Would do this trade 10/10 times. Eichel seems to be getting his groove back, and that's no surprise to me. I'm just glad we got a good return, and the players fit the culture well.

 

[Buffalo Norsemen]

Travis Yost's Article as well

Travis Yost: Revisiting the Jack Eichel trade | TSN

One of hockey’s biggest trades in recent history is, at least so far, yielding big results for two teams on the upswing this October, Travis Yost writes.

www.tsn.ca

I hope JE does well in Vegas, he is playing well and they are in 1st. Tuch was exactly the heart and soul, heart on the sleeve player the Sabre's needed (and could use another one day), any added benefits from Krebs or the picks (EDIT: Ostlund and a 2nd next yr) will be a bonus. Only slight regret, I "still" wish we could of got a Dman in that deal.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Anyways, good article. I expected a little bit more tbh. But it seems like this trade is gonna work out well for both teams, good stuff.

 

[Gabrielor]

The article is right. The Sabres are back. Still insanely young and 4 1sts in the past 2 years aren't on the team yet...

 

[mcy35]

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious:

You’re pulling to excerpts that are pretty reasonable statements. The first comment was when he was being grilled after taking the GM team and where we were. The second quote was when discussing signing extensions and building a long-term winner. I think it’s relevant and GMKA has earned the benefit of the doubt.

 

[enthusiast]

I *strongly* encourage discussing the content of the post, rather than the perceived nature of the poster.

 

[Matt Ress]

Turning out well for both sides. If Ostlund and/or this year's (late) 2nd pan out, trade will be tilted our way.

 

[JLewyB]

I guess I prefer a deep dive over whatever this is. I guess Lebrun wanted to get a recap of the actual trade process instead of what happened since. But if you’re only interview is with KA then you’re not going to get much

 

[MOGlLNY]

I guess I prefer a deep dive over whatever this is. I guess Lebrun wanted to get a recap of the actual trade process instead of what happened since. But if you’re only interview is with KA then you’re not going to get much

Essentially what my thoughts were. It was fine, not much meat to it. Interesting to look back at either way. Nice not having a GM who was out at Bada Bings getting loaded telling everyone all the trades he was gonna make.

 

[Dingo44]

Perfectly good article. Not sure how anyone can say anything bad about it. Adams has the team going in the right direction and that includes the coaching staff, management, and the entire support system.

 

[Chainshot]

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious:

You may have missed the entire quote... “The message from ownership is, ‘We’ll give you every opportunity and every resource you need to succeed.’ "We’ve tried to put a plan together to make sure that we’re thoughtful about how we’re doing it."

Yes, so handing out large enough deals to draw middling level UFA's would have soaked their future cap flexibility and left them on the back foot throughout negotiation with who they have identified as core players, which we have seen with other teams leads signing guys to even more expensive deals.

 

[RhinoFan]

This is the hockey version of the Diggs trade with the Vikings...I think both teams won here. Jack is showing out in Vegas and pushing that team to where it should be, exactly what they wanted to get. Tuch has, in my eyes, almost single handedly turned this franchise around. Yes, Dahlin, Tage and others deserve credit, but he was the spark IMO. We can argue over who won if we like, but I think two things are almost already without doubt:

1) The scales are pretty balanced on this trade (barring Ostlund or that 2nd rounder being world enders)
2) Both teams should be happy with what they got out of it

 

[Buffalo Norsemen]

The article is right. The Sabres are back. Still insanely young and 4 1sts in the past 2 years aren't on the team yet...

probably worth mentioning the 3 2nds next year and assets in Portillo and Johnson also not to mention a load of promising "B" prospects in Rochester and the organization.

 

[TehDoak]

You may have missed the entire quote... “The message from ownership is, ‘We’ll give you every opportunity and every resource you need to succeed.’ "We’ve tried to put a plan together to make sure that we’re thoughtful about how we’re doing it."

Yes, so handing out large enough deals to draw middling level UFA's would have soaked their future cap flexibility and left them on the back foot throughout negotiation with who they have identified as core players, which we have seen with other teams leads signing guys to even more expensive deals.

That actually isn't accurate. I ran the numbers earlier this year and they could easily have added around 10M in long term cap space if they wanted with very little in terms of long term consequences, especially with the rising cap. I'm all for avoiding long term entanglements, however and maximizing flexibility. In the shorter term (under 3 years) the space is even greater to do some things.

But, there IS wisdom to not spending to the cap when you aren't in your contention window AND leaving flexibility. But that isn't what the Sabres are doing, they are blatantly spending as little as possible on the roster. Adams is claiming what they are doing is leaving room for the future but....the reality is, this is being excessively cheap.

 

[enthusiast]

You could reasonably argue that they could have signed Klingberg for 1/8 or whatever like the ducks did and still be financially unrestricted, but if the philosophy is to give the kids the time to grow into their own this year, that move doesn’t help. I don’t disagree that they’ve been cheap before but I don’t think this year’s build necessarily reflects a continuation of the trend. I guess we’ll see if they’re willing to invest further moving forward.

 

[Sabre the Win]

That actually isn't accurate. I ran the numbers earlier this year and they could easily have added around 10M in long term cap space if they wanted with very little in terms of long term consequences, especially with the rising cap. I'm all for avoiding long term entanglements, however and maximizing flexibility. In the shorter term (under 3 years) the space is even greater to do some things.

But, there IS wisdom to not spending to the cap when you aren't in your contention window AND leaving flexibility. But that isn't what the Sabres are doing, they are blatantly spending as little as possible on the roster. Adams is claiming what they are doing is leaving room for the future but....the reality is, this is being excessively cheap.

Which UFA would you have targeted and or think the Sabres should have brought in this offseason that makes us a better team while still allowing the kids to play?

 

[Dingo44]

Are we still complaining about not signing these mythical UFA's?

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Literally the only UFA I was hoping we went after hard was Mason Marchment but if people are truly mad about missing out on 1 guy then idk

 

[Chainshot]

You could reasonably argue that they could have signed Klingberg for 1/8 or whatever like the ducks did and still be financially unrestricted, but if the philosophy is to give the kids the time to grow into their own this year, that move doesn’t help. I don’t disagree that they’ve been cheap before but I don’t think this year’s build necessarily reflects a continuation of the trend. I guess we’ll see if they’re willing to invest further moving forward.

With everything Granato says about putting players into positions to challenge them, Klingberg would likely step in front of Power. For the tire fire he has been in Anaheim, and some of his metrics in Dallas were certainly big D as well, is that worth bringing in another merc on a 1-year like they did with Hall? Adams got PLAYED by Hall's folks and there is no reason to think he isn't particularly shy to try that sort of thing again.

 

[Ace]

Are we still complaining about not signing these mythical UFA's?

I still wish they had added a D man to play with Power, yes.

I feel like that becomes less of a hot take with every injury and every time the coach acknowledges they’re putting more on his plate than they should.

 

[Dingo44]

I still wish they had added a D man to play with Power, yes.

I feel like that becomes less of a hot take with every injury and every time the coach acknowledges they’re putting more on his plate than they should.

They're down three D. Power has started really thriving with the added responsibility and Pilut is coming into his game. If we added more D, then where are they playing when everyone is back healthy? We did add Boosh. And we've exhausted the list of these other D that would have supposedly come to Buffalo and not taken away ice time from Power or caused cap issues if we have to sign them for more than a year.

 

[RhinoFan]

probably worth mentioning the 3 2nds next year and assets in Portillo and Johnson also not to mention a load of promising "B" prospects in Rochester and the organization.

Can't argue that competition for jobs isn't a really good thing.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Good article though it's a bit of a self aggrandizing fluff piece. Though I will say that we are on the precipice of being back. They need to get to January with the same tenacity and intensity before I believe it.