I don’t think it’s him. I think Adams is the reason.
We spent money on the bottom 6, defense and goaltending. The only place we haven’t is the top 6.
We are in the unusual situation of having 3 ELCs in our top 6 which drives the payroll down. Obviously that’s where your bigger forward salaries are. But those are Adams guys, he drafted all 3 of the ELCs. (Peterka/Quinn/Benson). I mean the entire top 6 are essentially all Adams guys at this point. He either drafted them, committed to them with big extensions (Tage/Cozens) or traded for them (Tuch).
The last two offseasons Adams has shown an overconfidence in the roster or specific players when putting the roster together that caused problems. It’s still early, so maybe it corrects itself with Quinn/Benson getting on track. But so far a kid heavy 2nd line has been a mess.
But I don’t think Pegula had anything to do with this top 6 and by extension the overall payroll being where it is.
EDIT: and if Friedman’s reporting is true, Adams realizes his mistake as well and is trying to find a fix it. Better late than never I guess, not that I expect anything to happen.