Kevyn Adams GM thread

[BFLO]

Surprised so many of you are applauding this extension when the team hasn't been expected to put up wins under Adams yet.

We all thought GMTM was great until we expected the team to actually start winning.

 

[Gras]

Yeah man, the market for Adams experience of......let me check here...."missing the playoffs by 20+ points every season he's been the GM" is sparkling. Real market demand. Good thing the Pegula's got out ahead of it.

Came here for this and was not disappointed.

 

[Buffalo Norsemen]

I think after Tim Murray, Botts, Ralph, Marrone, Whaley, and Rex, they are justified to have some trust issues.

well, they hired them, some of there own picks, some league recommendations. If they were middle management they would be looking for a new career.

 

[alehman42]

Came here for this and was not disappointed.

People who post consistently negative responses I tend to put on ignore (nothing personal, but I have to listen to people complain about sh*t plenty enough in my day job).

As a result, I'm only seeing 14 of the 27 replies in this thread, and they're almost all positive.

So yes...the people complaining about this are apparently the people who complain about just about everything

 

[Club]

I think he's the right guy to guide us towards the promise land.

 

[RefsIdeas]

Terry has to be thrilled to finally be able to actually re-sign a GM instead of fire them before their first deal is even up

Tim Murray and Botterill both received extensions

 

[Weltschmerz]

People who post consistently negative responses I tend to put on ignore (nothing personal, but I have to listen to people complain about sh*t plenty enough in my day job).

As a result, I'm only seeing 14 of the 27 posts in this thread, and they're almost all positive.

So yes...the people complaining about this are apparently the people who complain about just about everything

I see all but one and from those all but one are positive.

 

[Zman5778]

Surprised so many of you are applauding this extension when the team hasn't been expected to put up wins under Adams yet.

We all thought GMTM was great until we expected the team to actually start winning.

Adams took over a team and an organization in complete disarray. It was an absolute disaster.

Since he has been hired, the organization has stabilized. Our drafting has seemingly improved (note the use of the word seemingly, it'll be a couple of years before it's played out). The culture of the team has done a complete 180.

For the first time in what feels like forever, we seem to be heading in the right direction. I've got ZERO issues rewarding this.

He still has to prove himself once he goes big fish hunting in UFA, but I like what I've seen.

 

[Butt Ox]

I don’t believe any GM can get Portillo to come when Levi is signing here at the same time.

Outplay Levi and take the job. Portillo was the one swinging hardware after head-to-head play.

 

[Dubi Doo]

He's done pretty well. A few hiccups, but looking at the big picture- things are looking bright. Im fine with him guiding the ship for a few more years to see if he can turn this young team into a contender.

It's a good change of pace for me because Im usually calling for the GM's head at this point in their tenure, haha.

 

[SwordsgoneWild]

I was initially pissed about hiring a guy with no managing credential's whatsover and thought it was a penny pinching move by the org. But he has won me over bit by bit. I think he is quite the story. Dude came in with people thinking he that he would be overwhelmed by his lack of experience but he clearly had his head straight and had a clear plan moving forward. A plan he convinced the Pegulas of when he went down to Boca and laid it out for them. He has his warts but overall he's been good. Him and Granato have given us something that we all gave up on centuries ago...... hope. I love the direction of the team. Hopefully we can get good goaltending out of Comrie ,Anderson, and 6k this year.

 

[Ace]

Outplay Levi and take the job. Portillo was the one swinging hardware after head-to-head play.

If you’re job had only 32 places to work…and you were the sixth or seventh best guy in your class…and the guy who was say…3rd in the class took one of the jobs…and there’s were 25 of those places to work where no one better than you in your class was. You’d be an idiot to take a job where one was when you can go anywhere.

It’s about development. There’s only one net in Rochester. Both guys need to play more than half the games or it is detrimental to their development. Portillo could have had the net this year and said no. Next year Levi will have the net. He will walk into someone else’s as their top prospect at the AHL level. He would be foolish not to for his own development let alone opportunity. And it would be bad for Levi if he did sign. He needs the net.

 

[Dirty Dog]

It’s important to have continuity when you have competent people in charge

 

[elchud]

The timing of this is to protect Adams ... extension after missing the playoffs AGAIN would be palm-to-face, but before the season is saying "yes we are prepared to miss the playoffs again trust the plan"

They are protecting and rewarding the guy who is going to have three seasons of cap floor rosters while stacking prospects like a boss. And this will all pay off ... soon. And its gonna be great. We are going to have 40 blue chip forward prospects and they will all have total buy in with the culture.

 

[old kummelweck]

When did his old contract end? Do we even know?

I'm assuming he's in the final year of a 3 year contract that started with the great sackings of 2020.

 

[dang111]

His drafting and signing has looked good. Changing the culture is HUGE. HUGE. There are absolutely things that could’ve been done better (goalie situation…) but it finally feels like things are going in the right direction. I’m happy with staying with GMKA.

 

[BloFan4Life]

We have seen 3 Adams draft picks play at the NHL level.

Three.

They have played a total of 12 games.

Let's talk about his drafting in 5 years.

In the end, it's the Pegula's cash and it doesn't affect the salary cap, so i guess they can waste it if they want.

Do you not understand what the terms prospect means?

Of course they haven't played NHL games, they are prospects.

We have the number rated prospect pool in the entire NHL. IMO, the most important part of a GM is finding young talent. According to multiple sources, Adams has done that better than almost all teams in the league.

Like I said in my post, if these prospects don't turn out, that's on the coaches. I would rather get rid of the coaches that ruined the prospects and keep the guy the found the prospects that made them the number rated in league. The current coach, I wouldn't even put on Adams. It kind of just fell into place.

 

[DapperCam]

He was probably the lowest paid GM in the league, so this was likely a nice bump salary-wise. I’m the most optimistic I’ve been about the Sabres in a long time, so kudos to Adams.

A silver lining of having a sycophant yes-man (not my words) for GM is maybe the owner trusts him enough to stay out of the way and not meddle as much.

 

[Jim Bob]

Surprised so many of you are applauding this extension when the team hasn't been expected to put up wins under Adams yet.

We all thought GMTM was great until we expected the team to actually start winning.

Personally, I like the patience and stability this extension gives the team. There has been too much turnover since the Pegulas took over. Adams has proven enough for me at this point to say that giving him an extension beyond this season makes sense. He was likely entering the last year of a three year deal. To give him a vote of confidence in where the organization and the team is headed is appropriate at this time.

 

[Chainshot]

Personally, I like the patience and stability this extension gives the team. There has been too much turnover since the Pegulas took over. Adams has proven enough for me at this point to say that giving him an extension beyond this season makes sense. He was likely entering the last year of a three year deal. To give him a vote of confidence in where the organization and the team is headed is appropriate at this time.

That's probably the biggest thing in all of this, especially for some who are advocating *not that* of having Adams at the helm. His gains have not been on the ice but in terms of workplace environment? Taking over a rudderless cesspool and moving it in the right direction is worth the acknowledgement from the owners.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

People who post consistently negative responses I tend to put on ignore (nothing personal, but I have to listen to people complain about sh*t plenty enough in my day job).

As a result, I'm only seeing 14 of the 27 replies in this thread, and they're almost all positive.

So yes...the people complaining about this are apparently the people who complain about just about everything

I don't mind negative comments. It forces me to look at the other side of a subject/issue/topic, but when it's clear that there is an axe to grind, or no true coherent message then i tend to go ahead an ignore.

 

[Jim Bob]

That's probably the biggest thing in all of this, especially for some who are advocating *not that* of having Adams at the helm. His gains have not been on the ice but in terms of workplace environment? Taking over a rudderless cesspool and moving it in the right direction is worth the acknowledgement from the owners.

I also believe that not only has he done a good job fixing the workplace environment, but he's also done an admirable job of rebuilding the entire front office after having to go Grim Reaper on day 1 as GM.

I get the "they haven't won anything yet" takes. But, they are not at that stage of the build yet.

If they are still a 70-80 point team in 22-23 and 23-24, then you can start talking about whether they would be better served with a different GM, IMO.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

Personally, I like the patience and stability this extension gives the team. There has been too much turnover since the Pegulas took over. Adams has proven enough for me at this point to say that giving him an extension beyond this season makes sense. He was likely entering the last year of a three year deal. To give him a vote of confidence in where the organization and the team is headed is appropriate at this time.

That's probably the biggest thing in all of this, especially for some who are advocating *not that* of having Adams at the helm. His gains have not been on the ice but in terms of workplace environment? Taking over a rudderless cesspool and moving it in the right direction is worth the acknowledgement from the owners.

The sabres organization is finally starting to earn back our respect. You can hear it in the way the national media discusses the team and the way our players and prospects engage with team functions. Adams has built the foundation for the right culture. I trust granato and i think for the first time since Darcy and Lindy, the future looks decent.

For those of you arguing that Adams has done nothing to deserve an extension because either: we missed the playoffs, or not a lot of his picks have hit the NHL, or whatever reason you're lobbing into the air - what did you honestly expect adams to do? Anyone who inherited that front office when he did was going to fail. No one could make the playoffs with the mess of contracts, and third/fourth line players who were slotted in the lineup in positions over their abilities. After three short years, you think suddenly we are going to be in the playoffs following some historic franchise lows?
Adams addressed the things that could have an immediate impact, first. He addressed the culture and the support staff. We have one of the most impressive advanced analytics departments in the NHL. Adams systematically moved out deadweight and players who weren't interested in playing here. He isn't rushing prospects, but is developing them slowly (aka - correctly). The real test comes with this extension. If he can keep up the current trajectory, then we'll wish we had him for more than three years.
While he has had a few missteps, i think that he has truly done the best he can with what was given to him.

 

[joshjull]

Adams extended, Doak hardest hit.

 

[Chainshot]

To add to my other post - I was not pleased with Adams as the pick to be GM. I was thrilled that they let Botterill go, he was infuriating in his incompetence, but to bring in someone who had so little experience it was easy to get hooked by that. However... the guy has people working for the team enthusiastic about what they are doing. They have players who are saying and doing the right things off the ice. While they aren't there yet one can see for the first time in nearly 20 years that they are moving in the right direction. Being hooked by his experience level for all this time is self-denial of the happiness this bit of the journey can bring.

Adams extended, Doak hardest hit.

It's the T-Pegs remix.