Kevyn Adams GM thread

[Jim Bob]

Not getting a starting goalie before this season started is a fireable offense for Adams. Not pulling the goalie last night after 10 goals is also a fireable offense for Granato.

No they are not.

Adams tried to add a guy that could be a #1 goalie and it did not work out as he hoped. Given everything else that has happened with the team, it is not realistic to look at just the Comrie signing and say that Adams should be fired. That miss does not wipe out things like the contracts he has given to Thompson, Cozens, and Samuelsson to lock up three key young players long term.

Adams is not perfect. But, no one UFA signing not hitting is something worth firing a guy for, IMO.

Granato's handling of the goalies has been weird to me. But again, he has way more positives than negatives and there is no reason to let him go at this stage.

 

[TommyDangles]

Yeah, how dare people want players that help the team.

How much would they help is the question. They could even hurt the team in the long term. Are they worth the big contract & the picks/prospects. Most of the time the answer is no.

 

[toomuchsauce]

watching owen powers and dahlin lately, i get why GMKA punted this season. So, good job GMKA, I guess. If he wanted to see what this group is made of, post-trade deadline...well...this is what they're made of.

 

[Jim Bob]

How much would they help is the question. They could even hurt the team in the long term. Are they worth the big contract & the picks/prospects. Most of the time the answer is no.

Any moves that a GM makes has the chance of not working out in the long run.

As such, not making moves and just trying to rely on drafting and developing is not the way to build a winning team. It is a piece of it, but they do need to make other moves.

In goal, for example, just going with Comrie and UPL and hoping that Levi is the savior in a few years is not a good enough plan. They need to add a more trustworthy guy this summer.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

watching owen powers and dahlin lately, i get why GMKA punted this season. So, good job GMKA, I guess. If he wanted to see what this group is made of, post-trade deadline...well...this is what they're made of.

Power is a rookie and Dahlin looks hurt.

Who is our defensive coach? I am looking long and hard at that position this offseason.

 

[Grouch]

Any moves that a GM makes has the chance of not working out in the long run.

As such, not making moves and just trying to rely on drafting and developing is not the way to build a winning team. It is a piece of it, but they do need to make other moves.

In goal, for example, just going with Comrie and UPL and hoping that Levi is the savior in a few years is not a good enough plan. They need to add a more trustworthy guy this summer.

This is correct....and also the exact reason KA is not the guy. Their plan is UPL, Comrie, and Levi and that's it. No other options in their mind.

Demko was available. It wouldn't have been that costly....prob Comrie and PHL 2nd.

Chychrun was available and YES it would have been a slight overpay, but not like serious overpay.

Domi was available for a 2nd, and he's the type we could use 1 of in the system and could be re-signed for 2x$3.5m.

So many moves could have been made without compromising what they were trying to accomplish. KA is just not the guy.

 

[EichHart]

No they are not.

Adams tried to add a guy that could be a #1 goalie and it did not work out as he hoped. Given everything else that has happened with the team, it is not realistic to look at just the Comrie signing and say that Adams should be fired. That miss does not wipe out things like the contracts he has given to Thompson, Cozens, and Samuelsson to lock up three key young players long term.

Adams is not perfect. But, no one UFA signing not hitting is something worth firing a guy for, IMO.

Granato's handling of the goalies has been weird to me. But again, he has way more positives than negatives and there is no reason to let him go at this stage.

Agree with you, just a little salty after last night and needed to vent. What about not shoring up the defense with a vet or 2 before the season started? Clearly Bryson/Clague are not needed on this team.

 

[TommyDangles]

Any moves that a GM makes has the chance of not working out in the long run.

As such, not making moves and just trying to rely on drafting and developing is not the way to build a winning team. It is a piece of it, but they do need to make other moves.

In goal, for example, just going with Comrie and UPL and hoping that Levi is the savior in a few years is not a good enough plan. They need to add a more trustworthy guy this summer.

I'm not saying never make a move. It just has to be a smart moves.

I remember arguing with people on here about not trading our top 10 pick for Max Domi a few years ago. Things like Domi would fix our team as a 2C / we won't get a Max Domi kind of player with our 7th pick / Shouldn't be hoarding these picks/prospects. That pick became Dylan Cozens. Could you imagine if we traded the Cozens pick for Max Domi? A guy signing cheap 1 year deals in FA only a few years later? That's why I'm always cautious about moves like this.

I always really liked the moves Colorado made. Take advantage of teams in rough spots / desperate. Trading for Toews / Kadri / Burakovsky. Those are the types of moves I hope we make over the summer. Fill our weak points in the roster without trading high picks / great prospects.

 

[TommyDangles]

This is correct....and also the exact reason KA is not the guy. Their plan is UPL, Comrie, and Levi and that's it. No other options in their mind.

Demko was available. It wouldn't have been that costly....prob Comrie and PHL 2nd.

Chychrun was available and YES it would have been a slight overpay, but not like serious overpay.

Domi was available for a 2nd, and he's the type we could use 1 of in the system and could be re-signed for 2x$3.5m.

So many moves could have been made without compromising what they were trying to accomplish. KA is just not the guy.

Comrie has never been a part of the plan. He's on a 2 year extremely cheap deal. He's just a bridge goalie. He had decent results in Winnipeg. I'd say it was a fine gamble to see if he could continue that.

Vancouver was never going to give away Demko for cheap. They don't have a reason to move him. A 2nd & Comrie is not realistic at all. Our 1st would definitely have to be involved.

A lot of these moves just don't do much. You think if Domi was out there over Mitts/Olofsson it would change much? There are some glaring flaws with this team and it's gonna take more than one deadline to fix. It's expected though because we just blew up the roster only a year ago.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

This is correct....and also the exact reason KA is not the guy. Their plan is UPL, Comrie, and Levi and that's it. No other options in their mind.

Demko was available. It wouldn't have been that costly....prob Comrie and PHL 2nd.

Chychrun was available and YES it would have been a slight overpay, but not like serious overpay.

Domi was available for a 2nd, and he's the type we could use 1 of in the system and could be re-signed for 2x$3.5m.

So many moves could have been made without compromising what they were trying to accomplish. KA is just not the guy.

You know for a fact that their plan for next season is Comrie and UPL? No, you don't, because plans change. KA may have buyers remorse on Comrie we just don't know. He's not going to flat out say that.

Vancouver was listening to offers on Demko, but if you think he was getting traded for that offer you're out of your mind.

Chychrun we already know the ask from Buffalo was higher than what they got from Ottawa. To what extent we do not know. Just that KA mentioned Savoie and Kulich, neither of which were or should be on the table for Chychrun.

Domi is terrible defensively, but we need one of him?

Keep getting rid of management and coaches every 3 years and see how long your players want to stick around. How many coaches and GM's has Dahlin had so far? How many did Eichel have? Replacing them every couple of years has really worked out well so far though so let's continue to cycle them out and watch the team vision change constantly. Eventually something will work right?

 

[Bendium]

Idk Stillman and Greenway are the prototypes we were hoping for. Physical defensive defender and a big power forward, with all of the big assets still in our back pocket.

The team gave up (again!). Tough to blame Adams for that imo. I understand pushing no fault offense but the boys have to at least tell their elbows from their assholes in the D zone.

And they are helping us in our back pocket how? Are you going to tell me to get back to you in five years when some of them are making the sabres on ELC's.

 

[Jim Bob]

This is correct....and also the exact reason KA is not the guy. Their plan is UPL, Comrie, and Levi and that's it. No other options in their mind.

Demko was available. It wouldn't have been that costly....prob Comrie and PHL 2nd.

Chychrun was available and YES it would have been a slight overpay, but not like serious overpay.

Domi was available for a 2nd, and he's the type we could use 1 of in the system and could be re-signed for 2x$3.5m.

So many moves could have been made without compromising what they were trying to accomplish. KA is just not the guy.

I seriously doubt that Demko was available and certainly not for Comrie and a 2nd. If Demko was available, Vancouver would want a lot for him and not just a guy like Comrie and a 2nd.

We do not know exactly what Arizona was asking of the Sabres. It appears like the breakdown was that Arizona insisted on Savoie or Kulich being a part of the package and Adams being unwilling to do that.

Domi is not what the Sabres need, at all.

Overall, I like what Adams has done so far. But, he has not been perfect. And like every GM out there, he has plenty of work to do.

 

[Jim Bob]

Agree with you, just a little salty after last night and needed to vent. What about not shoring up the defense with a vet or 2 before the season started? Clearly Bryson/Clague are not needed on this team.

He did as Boosh and Clague started the year as their 8/9/10 guy in Rochester with Pilut and Davies. Having those three guys as 8/9/10 is fine.

Adams has made a move to try and upgrade over Bryson on the 3rd pair by trading for Stillman. Time will tell if he is an upgrade or merely a different style of D (big & physical) that gives them similar results as not good enough as a 3rd pairing guy.

My two biggest off season needs are to upgrade at 4D (I want a vet defensive D to be Power's partner) and an upgrade at 1G.

The rest of the moves they will need to make with their bottom 6 Fs will be on the To Do list, as well.

 

[Jim Bob]

I'm not saying never make a move. It just has to be a smart moves.

I remember arguing with people on here about not trading our top 10 pick for Max Domi a few years ago. Things like Domi would fix our team as a 2C / we won't get a Max Domi kind of player with our 7th pick / Shouldn't be hoarding these picks/prospects. That pick became Dylan Cozens. Could you imagine if we traded the Cozens pick for Max Domi? A guy signing cheap 1 year deals in FA only a few years later? That's why I'm always cautious about moves like this.

I always really liked the moves Colorado made. Take advantage of teams in rough spots / desperate. Trading for Toews / Kadri / Burakovsky. Those are the types of moves I hope we make over the summer. Fill our weak points in the roster without trading high picks / great prospects.

Every deal has risks attached to it.

And dealing high picks and good prospects should be on the table for the right move and if the prospect is a guy that is redundant with what the Sabres have on the roster and in the pipeline.

Rosen is a guy that they should be willing to move, IMO. He will have a hard time beating out guys like Quinn, Peterka, Kulich, and Savoie for meaningful middle 6 ice time in the NHL in the future.

And when it comes to picks, the Sabres should be willing to move a high pick in the right trade. That does not mean going full TBL and trading every high pick for low cost middle or bottom 6 guys. But, if they have an answer in goal or as Power's D partner for a while, then they need to be willing to move a 1st for a guy like that.

 

[TommyDangles]

Every deal has risks attached to it.

And dealing high picks and good prospects should be on the table for the right move and if the prospect is a guy that is redundant with what the Sabres have on the roster and in the pipeline.

Rosen is a guy that they should be willing to move, IMO. He will have a hard time beating out guys like Quinn, Peterka, Kulich, and Savoie for meaningful middle 6 ice time in the NHL in the future.

And when it comes to picks, the Sabres should be willing to move a high pick in the right trade. That does not mean going full TBL and trading every high pick for low cost middle or bottom 6 guys. But, if they have an answer in goal or as Power's D partner for a while, then they need to be willing to move a 1st for a guy like that.

Every deal has risks, but some much more than others. When you need to trade a top 15 pick & they can walk soon that risk is extremely high. Compared to trading a couple 2nds for an RFA d man with an extension included.

When I meant great prospects, I was talking about Savoie/Kulich. I have Rosen as a tier below them.

I don't think teams should ever move high picks. I'm talking borderline top 10 picks. Where we our right now. If we're a playoff team trading our 1st in the 19-30 range that's a different story.

 

[yasky]

At this point I'd shut down Dahlin for the season. He's too banged up.

The team has some serious holes to fill this off season With no more than 3 regular NHL calibre defencemen they're lucky to be where they are.

 

[Grouch]

Comrie has never been a part of the plan. He's on a 2 year extremely cheap deal. He's just a bridge goalie. He had decent results in Winnipeg. I'd say it was a fine gamble to see if he could continue that.

Vancouver was never going to give away Demko for cheap. They don't have a reason to move him. A 2nd & Comrie is not realistic at all. Our 1st would definitely have to be involved.

A lot of these moves just don't do much. You think if Domi was out there over Mitts/Olofsson it would change much? There are some glaring flaws with this team and it's gonna take more than one deadline to fix. It's expected though because we just blew up the roster only a year ago.

The leaked LA offer for Demko AND Myers was Quick, Durzi, and a prospect.

Comrie and 2nd is close...MAYBE add a prospect.

Point is he could have been had without killing our draft choices or prospect pool

 

[sabremike]

If this team goes 5-13 the rest of the way (which is very possible given the schedule) they will finish the season with 78 points, barely above the previous season. That is not a successful season at all.

 

[Jim Bob]

The leaked LA offer for Demko AND Myers was Quick, Durzi, and a prospect.

Comrie and 2nd is close...MAYBE add a prospect.

Point is he could have been had without killing our draft choices or prospect pool

There is a reason that Demko is still a Canuck if the Kings made that offer.

Comrie and a 2nd is nowhere near enough for Demko just like that offer wasn't enough to land Demko even with the Kings taking Myers, as well.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

The leaked LA offer for Demko AND Myers was Quick, Durzi, and a prospect.

Comrie and 2nd is close...MAYBE add a prospect.

Point is he could have been had without killing our draft choices or prospect pool

Link to the leaked LA offer for Demko? If the report you reference is real and to be believed, then the reason it's so "cheap" is because myers is one hell of a cap dump. Bottom four defenseman for $6 million a year? Cap dump. Also, on what planet is comrie comparable to quick? Finally, if it was such a slam dunk deal, then why didn't it happen?

You draw a lot of weird parallels and jump to some conclusions that don't match up to reality. I get that you don't think KA is the guy. Fine. But making fantasy/theoretical trade scenarios that KA could have tried does not mean they were actually available options for us at the TDL.

 

[Havok89]

Will Adams fire Granato and bring in a vet coach that can instill a system that plays both ends of the ice? A coach that requite his defense to actually play defense, and his forwards to actually play in the lower zone?

I think Granato did a good job developing the young guys, but the clock has to start for him next season.

They called this a development year so I’m sure his job is safe. But the expectation for playoffs needs to be next season.

Adams needs to trim the dead weight (Olofsson, Bryson, Clague, maybe Okposo, etc..) and find a legitimate solution to goaltending and our defense.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Will Adams fire Granato and bring in a vet coach that can instill a system that plays both ends of the ice? A coach that requite his defense to actually play defense, and his forwards to actually play in the lower zone?

Not yet. Let's see how the defense looks next year, but it could be Granato's Achilles heel.

 

[TommyDangles]

The leaked LA offer for Demko AND Myers was Quick, Durzi, and a prospect.

Comrie and 2nd is close...MAYBE add a prospect.

Point is he could have been had without killing our draft choices or prospect pool

I looked it up and that seems like a fan's idea not an actual offer.

it's much more than Comrie & a 2nd. Durzi might be worth a 1st on his own.

 

[Matt Ress]

And they are helping us in our back pocket how? Are you going to tell me to get back to you in five years when some of them are making the sabres on ELC's.

??? I wasn't telling you anything

 

[PatLaFontaineASMR]

The problem is....we've needed to add a goalie every year Adams has been GM. We needed to upgrade on Hutton the year started, we did nothing. We needed to replace Ullmark and add a backup goalie....we signed Anderson and used Tokarski as a backup goalie. We needed two goalies last summer, we brought back Anderson and signed a career backup in Comrie to split starter duties.

So you can't just look at one offseason and say "well who did you want him to get"

You've got to go through EVERY offseason he's be a GM and see this was never addressed.

It'd be one thing to TRY to fix it and fail like the Red Wings did with Neldejovic (Sp) and miss is more forgivable than to simply not do anything and just wait for whatever goalie scraps are out there and hope for the best is inexcusable.

I mean the plan has been pretty obvious for a long time. His name is Devon Levi.

"Anderson and signed a career backup in Comrie to split starter duties."

Which I was completely fine with for 1 year. Also UPL getting enough time to see how he would perform.

"So you can't just look at one offseason and say "well who did you want him to get"

Of course you can. People like to say just get a good goalie bro like it's extremely easy or something. Legit good goaltenders that can carry teams never get moved. You mostly have fringe starters / quality backups available. The options were go after a long term guy Campbell/Husso or go short term with Comrie/Georgiev.

Team defense is obviously way more important. Comrie would probably look average on a team that wasn't terrible defensively. He already looked solid on a Winnipeg team that was decent defensively.

"It'd be one thing to TRY to fix it and fail like the Red Wings did with Neldejovic (Sp) and miss is more forgivable"

I don't think it's forgivable to give out a huge contract. Not talking about Ned indiviually, but for Campbell & Husso. People wouldn't say at least Adams tried. We'd be lambasting him for signing a guy playing worse than Comrie for another 5 years at 6M and rightfully so. I'd rather gamble on a small move as a bridge for Levi. At least it's fairly easy to move on from Comrie.

"more forgivable than to simply not do anything"

I mean signing Comrie wasn't doing nothing. Promising backup signed to a cheap 2 year deal. If it doesn't work out he's not hurting the cap. It was very clear that signing anyone longer than 2 years wasn't in the plan. Also tried to get Matt Murray, which he obviously didn't waive his NTC.