What grade would you give Kevin Adams?

[HogtownSabresfan]

Adams is just a YES man. It's all Pegulas. Team is doomed under them.

 

[dortt]

D, in case he’s got CTE and can’t help it

Which is why former player should NEVER be in management positions, probably not coaching positions either

 

[SundherDome]

He gets a C.

He tried with Staal and Hall.

He didn't address the defense or goaltending, which were the two biggest holes.

He is playing the kids to see what they are.

Johansson trade is still up in the air, it looks like with a competent team in front of him he is a decent back-up.

He took wayyy to long to fire Ralph

He fired Ralph

He got something for Staal

I think he could have done better on Montour but I'm not gunna gripe over it

He was taken to the woodshed by a GM who usually gets taken to the woodshed in the Hall trade.

There is still today to trade

I don't see a vision for how this team is built. He hasn't targeted anything or anyone. That worries me.

 

[Thorton02]

Incomplete until we get to the expansion draft. If he can get rid of Skinner or Okposo by giving up one of those 2nd round picks, Adams will get a good grade.

 

[2 others]

This take is so frustrating.

He's the GM. It's his job to shape and build the roster. I think we can say that ownership is equally to blame here, but the idea that Adams escapes blame because we don't know "how much actual input" he had is silly.

He's the GM. He, from a league perspective, is the one who makes the trades and signs the players. It's his job. I think we all agree that the Pegula's and Krueger had a hand in building the roster, but in the end, Adams is the one responsible for that roster. So, if the team has a shitty roster, it's his shitty roster.

They fell for the Krueger charme. Eichel too. BUT, Eichel is still young and can learn a few things in life. I don't see that with the yacht owners.

 

[Dirty Dog]

This take is so frustrating.

He's the GM. It's his job to shape and build the roster. I think we can say that ownership is equally to blame here, but the idea that Adams escapes blame because we don't know "how much actual input" he had is silly.

He's the GM. He, from a league perspective, is the one who makes the trades and signs the players. It's his job. I think we all agree that the Pegula's and Krueger had a hand in building the roster, but in the end, Adams is the one responsible for that roster. So, if the team has a shitty roster, it's his shitty roster.

i don’t think it’s a take. But looking at it realistically. He was the gm for one off season where every team is extremely cash strapped and he had a head coach on a level field control wise. Most of this crap roster was in place. And his hands were tied based on Botts f***ing things up.

the organization deserves an F, I just don’t know how much Adam’s is responsible for.

I don’t think there is any evidence Adams is doing a good job. That’s for sure. But he is really tough to grade for a lot of reasons

 

[UnleashRasmus]

I put C, but it's a D.

 

[Fjordy]

C

 

[debaser66]

Lets say we never signed Hall and kept the 8 million dollars. We could have added a couple of 3rds and a couple of 4ths as salary retention intermediaries. Kruegers Hindenburg, oh the humanity.

 

[debaser66]

Negatives:
1. Never addressed what was clearly the team's biggest problem: goaltending. Even exacerbated the problem by walking Ullmark right to UFA.
2. Big off-season acquisitions all failed. I still don't mind the Staal for Johansson trade. Eakin was a mistake from day 1, especially considering Larsson was apparently willing to re-sign here for cheaper while being the better player. As badly as he did in the Hall trade, we probably would've done better never to sign him at all.
3. Speaking of, this guy can't make good trades. He maybe got lucky with Minnesota and the Johansson/Staal swap, but everything else has been pretty bad.
4. Held onto Krueger way, way, way too long.
5. Set up a potentially ugly situation with Reinhart, where he could accept his QO this summer and walk straight to UFA the next.

Positives:
1. Uh, I guess I'll give him some small amount of credit for attempting to address the center position last off-season, even though he did a terrible job of it.
2. Is at least calling the kids up now and letting them play.

I'll grade generously and give him a D.

I am looking with dread at the Reinhart situation... 2 GMs couldn't get it right...let alone the 2-4mil in cap/season lost if he even signs here.
This is were the ROR trade brought back too much salary to even sign Reinhart back then longterm but its plausible JB was not going to anyways.

 

[debaser66]

he is not bad as JB but still not good enough for what this team actually needs

 

[elchud]

Will KA learn from his mistakes. A guy with no experience at this gig will make mistakes. He has to be better this next offseason. But to assume he would he the wunderkid was probably unfair.

Next year has to be better. No more of this playoffs or bust stuff. Build a deep team, have a balanced roster, develop the kids properly.

 

[Montag DP]

I gave him a C, mainly because he did finally fire Krueger and the team is looking better now. None of his moves have been great, but on the other hand none of them have been terrible either. I'm willing to give him more time to change my mind.

This offseason is going to tell us a lot. If we hire a proven coach and make some trades to fix up some of the holes that have been there forever (D and goaltending), I'd be willing to go up as high as an A. If it's more of the same, I'd change it to D or F.

 

[WYFR]

He should start finding his own replacement.

Considering the moves he's made, are you sure you want him in charge of that decision?

 

[Samsonite23]

Goaltending and the Larsson out - Eakin in thing are too big to ignore. Was way late firing RK. I give him a D since I've like Sheahan and Rieder, and I've defended his return in the Hall trade. Probably an F honestly.

 

[WYFR]

He should start finding his own replacement.

Considering the moves he's made, are you sure you want him in charge of that decision?

 

[explore]

C

Didn't address the goaltending situation in the offseason, not upgrading Hutton is a terrible decision
Acquiring Staal then signing Hall were fine moves on paper for a team that needed a 2C and more scoring
Upgraded the PK (but overpaid for Eakin, who hasn't worked out)

fired Krueger, albeit a month too late

Got meh value for Staal from Montreal
Got meh value for Montour
Got meh value for Hall (but this the most forgivable because Hall had a full NMC, so he had the right to say he'd only accept a trade to Boston, and given what WSH gave up for Mantha, I'll openly speculate that they would've given up a first for Hall if they could make the cap work and Hall would've accepted a trade there)

In summary, I'm just as ambivalent/worried about Adams as I was when his hiring was announced

 

[sabresEH]

I’ll add more to this post later. But maybe his biggest goaltending blunder was not claiming Nedeljkovic from waivers earlier. I think it was tough to move Hutton unless an asset was attached. With one year left I have no problem eating his contract. But I do have a problem with him doing nothing to replace/challenge him other than hoping for progression from Johansson.

 

[Archie Lee]

I would give him a C, maybe a C+.

What I like is that we have done a bit of a reset on the roster without doing anything truly regrettable. Prior to the Jonas Johansson trade we had only 5 in the 2021 draft. We now have 10 picks in the draft, which gives us some capital to make a deal or two before the expansion draft or at the entry draft. We also did not take on any big long-term deals, so we retain some cap-flexibility this off-season. By my count (with help from Cap Friendly) we have about 13 players under contract, who would likely figure into our plans for next year, with around $32 million in space. Reinhart, Dahlin and Ullmark could eat $14 - $17 million of that. With reasonable deals for Mittelstadt, Asplund, Joker and Borgen we should have at least $9 - $11 million to sign a back-up goalie and consider other options.

I was hoping for at least one hockey trade, but the reality is there were almost no such trades made today (Mantha/Vrana the exception) as it was all just buyers and sellers. The expansion draft complicates things further in that regard.

The one thing I don't like and stand by is that we sent Hall (and Lazar) to a division rival who is on the ropes and who we play 6 times in our last 15 games. Maybe Adams hands were tied and there was no 2nd for Hall anywhere other than from the Bruins.

 

[elchud]

With the exception of Dahlin I dont wanna be seeing no more of these NMCs.

Maybe Reinhart.

You gotta think that Hall woulda taken the 8 million and a 15 team NTC since...no other team was going to offer him more than 6 million. For crying out loud.

 

[elchud]

With the exception of Dahlin I dont wanna be seeing no more of these NMCs.

Maybe Reinhart.

You gotta think that Hall woulda taken the 8 million and a 15 team NTC since...no other team was going to offer him more than 6 million. For crying out loud.

 

[The Red Helmet]

If he would have fired Krueger when he gave his speech instead of weeks later, the streak probably doesn't hit 10 and this season is totatlly different.

 

[Zman5778]

Solid C. Sheahan and Rieder were good, solid adds. Hall....notsomuch. I 100% understand the goalie logic.

Fired Ralph, but took a week or two too long to do it.

Didn't do anything of major consequence at the deadline.

Meh. This offseason is when his work truly begins -- it's his show now.

 

[jputt99]

At this point , you can only give him a C . He dumped an unproductive drag on the cap , but also dealt a character guy in Lazar . Bjork is largely unknown and probably won't be an impact player . The second rounder is a plus .

 

[cardiffgiant]

On a scale of 0 to 112, I give him a 26

 

[Bobby Bottle Service]

D

Not for the trades he made, but for the ones he didn't. Miller/Reider could have garnered future considerations and the team would have been better off. Ullmark is going to walk and should have been traded too.

Side Note... if you told me in January that Hall and Lazar would be traded and I'd be sad to see one go... Never thought it would be Lazar.