Kevyn Adams GM thread

[Yatzhee]

It's not happening. Obviously. But let's just say for discussion purposes that we wake up tomorrow and Adams is gone.

Who is out there? The obvious answer is Karmanos just takes over, but I really would want someone who has had success as an NHL GM before.

Pegula is never selling. He publicly stated back in 16 or 17 that the franchise will be passed down to his eldest daughter, from his first marriage, she's a life long Sabres fan like him.

 

[Yatzhee]

The team can still make the playoffs but I read they have to play at a 108 point pace.

With a 7.6% chance of making the playoffs and its not even Christmas its gutting to have our hopes dashed already by Adams and Granato.

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I can't imagine other franchises keeping a GM and coach who missed the playoffs this many times.

Adams said the goal was to make the playoffs, but it wasn't the main goal. Sabres fans, and NHL fans in general, need to realize a few factual realities.

When Adams took over, it's been rumored Pegula has a reputation for firing people quickly. This has been mentioned more than several times across multiple hockey media outlets, hell, NHL networks Weekes mentioned it 2 yrs ago. Local coverage, has mentioned it as well. Changing that perception means Adams and Granato, who have extensions, are staying at least through those extensions. It's also one of the reasons why no experienced GM or coach choose Buffalo, even with the youth talent over flowing on hand.

2nd, the youth. The team is devoid of veteran leadership, this isn't merely a choice by the organization. No vets of any real leadership quality want to sign here because they've witnessed what's happened in the past. The ROR situation, Eichel, rebuilding a rebuild and the extremely young age of the players. If it's going to be corrected, it's going to have to start within it's own existing ranks.

And finally, it's the players caliber of play on the ice itself. Oh sure, Sabres can score a lot, like 3rd highest scoring team a lot last season, but without matured players, whose bodies have filled out physically, who use the physical game,l on defense, who have a goaltender that can show consistency, what you see game in and game out is what your going to get.

Pegula, Adams, Granato, the players, what they need is time. Time to fill out physically, time to build true 200' chemistry, time to develop a goalie tandem internally, and lastly, time to show players around the league they are successful at it.

Playoffs? While Adams may have said that is the goal, there are much larger issues with this organization where other goals supercede the playoffs, many of them by past self inflicted wounds.

Sell the team? Not happening, Pegula has already said, the team will go to his eldest daughter, a Western New York and Sabres fan. This will eventually pass, but yes, the damage to the brand will take "TIME" to heal. Sabres fans, and hockey fans in general, should at the very least, take the totality of the overall larger picture into consideration when forming opinions on the the Sabres. At least, I would hope they do.

 

[toddkaz]

Adams said the goal was to make the playoffs, but it wasn't the main goal. Sabres fans, and NHL fans in general, need to realize a few factual realities.

When Adams took over, it's been rumored Pegula has a reputation for firing people quickly. This has been mentioned more than several times across multiple hockey media outlets, hell, NHL networks Weekes mentioned it 2 yrs ago. Local coverage, has mentioned it as well. Changing that perception means Adams and Granato, who have extensions, are staying at least through those extensions. It's also one of the reasons why no experienced GM or coach choose Buffalo, even with the youth talent over flowing on hand.

2nd, the youth. The team is devoid of veteran leadership, this isn't merely a choice by the organization. No vets of any real leadership quality want to sign here because they've witnessed what's happened in the past. The ROR situation, Eichel, rebuilding a rebuild and the extremely young age of the players. If it's going to be corrected, it's going to have to start within it's own existing ranks.

And finally, it's the players caliber of play on the ice itself. Oh sure, Sabres can score a lot, like 3rd highest scoring team a lot last season, but without matured players, whose bodies have filled out physically, who use the physical game,l on defense, who have a goaltender that can show consistency, what you see game in and game out is what your going to get.

Pegula, Adams, Granato, the players, what they need is time. Time to fill out physically, time to build true 200' chemistry, time to develop a goalie tandem internally, and lastly, time to show players around the league they are successful at it.

Playoffs? While Adams may have said that is the goal, there are much larger issues with this organization where other goals supercede the playoffs, many of them by past self inflicted wounds.

Sell the team? Not happening, Pegula has already said, the team will go to his eldest daughter, a Western New York and Sabres fan. This will eventually pass, but yes, the damage to the brand will take "TIME" to heal. Sabres fans, and hockey fans in general, should at the very least, take the totality of the overall larger picture into consideration when forming opinions on the the Sabres. At least, I would hope they do.

I don't know but what I do know is teams like Detroit, Philadelphia and to a lesser extent Arizona have less talent than the sabres and are doing better.

Something is wrong and it needs to be fixed. I don't want Adams and Granato fired. I want to make the playoffs but if these guys can't do it then we need to move on to people who can.

 

[OkimLom]

Regier was fired after 2 consecutive seasons of failing to make the playoffs, and essentially kicking off the tank.

GMTM was fired after a 3 point drop in the standings from the previous season.

Botts was fired for non-hockey reasons, but did oversee a 16 point drop his first season as GM

Adams oversaw a 26 point drop his first season (prorated to 82 game pace)

Adams is on pace in his 4th season to oversee an 18 point drop from last season.

All GMs were fired for off-ice structure and attitudes. None were fired due to on-ice results.

 

[Ace]

Don't know if Hockey Writers is credible or not. Interesting read especially about Clifton and Erik Johnson.

Sabres' Struggles Result of Kevyn Adams' Poor Management - The Hockey Writers Buffalo Sabres Latest News, Analysis & More

The Sabres have gotten off to a subpar start, and while blame can be pointed at injuries or underperformance, the real blame is Kevyn Adams.

thehockeywriters.com

“Pointless in six games, Rosen holds a 5-on-5 xGF% of an incredibly low 31.69 percent. Kulich, on the other hand, boasts an xGF% of 50.12 percent, and though Savoie played just 3:55 in his one game, he held an xGF% of over 80 percent. I’m not sure what Adams sees in Rosen that he doesn’t see in one of those two.”

Look…I think the Savoie thing was about as stupid a thing as this dumb coach has done this year…but if he wasn’t going to play him there was no reason to have him here another minute.

The Kulich thing is also dumb. Your pp is costing you games and the one game you let him play (with no PP time) you stuck him on the 4th line in a game you got boatraced…and he STILL led the team in xGF%. And you never gave him a second game. That’s silly when your offence is in the mud. but the article ignores what the difference between Rosen and the other two is. His contract started. And they already let Benson’s start early. If they think it’s close…they are going to save the years.

This one is more Granato didnt give the opportunity than Adams seeing something. He sees a coach that played one guy 4 minutes and put another on the 4th line.

 

[toddkaz]

“Pointless in six games, Rosen holds a 5-on-5 xGF% of an incredibly low 31.69 percent. Kulich, on the other hand, boasts an xGF% of 50.12 percent, and though Savoie played just 3:55 in his one game, he held an xGF% of over 80 percent. I’m not sure what Adams sees in Rosen that he doesn’t see in one of those two.”

Look…I think the Savoie thing was about as stupid a thing as this dumb coach has done this year…but if he wasn’t going to play him there was no reason to have him here another minute.

The Kulich thing is also dumb. Your pp is costing you games and the one game you let him play (with no PP time) you stuck him on the 4th line in a game you got boatraced…and he STILL led the team in xGF%. And you never gave him a second game. That’s silly when your offence is in the mud. but the article ignores what the difference between Rosen and the other two is. His contract started. And they already let Benson’s start early. If they think it’s close…they are going to save the years.

This one is more Granato didnt give the opportunity than Adams seeing something. He sees a coach that played one guy 4 minutes and put another on the 4th line.

I don't get the choice of Rosen over Kulich and I also don't understand why Rosen doesn't get an opportunity on PP2.

I said the same thing about Benson at the beginning of the year when Granato had Benson on the third line with Greenway and I think Mitts? And wasn't giving Benson PP time.

If you are gonna have the young guys up then put them in a position to succeed. Give Rosen some PP time and see if he can build on it.

The way Granato treated Kulich, Rosen and Savoie is amatuer at best. He needs to put these guys in a position to score some goals and build confidence instead of playing 4-8 minutes a game.

 

[toddkaz]

From last summer. And?

 

[TageGod]

Do something (else) Darcy.

 

[toddkaz]

After 13 years of losing it kind of feels like losing has become acceptable in the locker room and management has made it this way. Its constant excuses from Adams and Granato about losing and getting better but nothing changes.

When RoR said he lost the love of hockey maybe that stench is still in the locker room.

Management and coaching staff hasn't won a thing at their positions they are in now. Can you have a winners mentality when your entire organization including coaches and players are either young, have no experience or haven't won anything.


Then when new players come in or prospects they shine for a game or two and then they are fed into the meat grinder and grounded down just mixed into the rest of the same mentality.

Smells like cleaning house and bringing in winning GMs and Coaches is the way to go here. Ones that have won before, know the mentality and don't find it acceptable.

 

[stealth1]

From last summer. And?

View attachment 783949

And how many moves are made before the trade deadline? It's not the depth that's the problem with the team. They can add all the depth in the world but if guys like Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Power and Dahlin need to carrying them.

 

[toddkaz]

And how many moves are made before the trade deadline? It's not the depth that's the problem with the team. They can add all the depth in the world but if guys like Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Power and Dahlin need to carrying them.

That quote was before free agency started.

Save your post for next year and you can say the same thing again.

 

[stealth1]

That quote was before free agency started.

Save your post for next year and you can say the same thing again.

He did add to this team. He added Clifton and Johnson. What did you want him to do? The core is pretty much set.

 

[stealth1]

@oldgoalie if you think guys like Clifton, Johnson and the goaltending is the problem than I don't know what to tell you. If this team's PP bad scoring was like it was last season this team would be in a playoff spot.

 

[oldgoalie]

@oldgoalie if you think guys like Clifton, Johnson and the goaltending is the problem than I don't know what to tell you. If this team's PP bad scoring was like it was last season this team would be in a playoff spot.

The goaltending 3 headed monster is/was an issue. As much as I love Levi, he needed to be in Rochester, and they needed to settle the UPL/Comrie/someone else debacle at the beginning of the season. And I am firmly in agreement with you that the PP (and the coaching) sucks. And the fact that the PP sucks balls and they are still paying someone coach’s money to be that coach is an indictment on the upper management of this franchise.

 

[stealth1]

The goaltending 3 headed monster is/was an issue. As much as I love Levi, he needed to be in Rochester, and they needed to settle the UPL/Comrie/someone else debacle at the beginning of the season. And I am firmly in agreement with you that the PP (and the coaching) sucks. And the fact that the PP sucks balls and they are still paying someone coach’s money to be that coach is an indictment on the upper management of this franchise.

There also wasn't a lot of options out there. At least none that would have been starter material.

 

[oldgoalie]

There also wasn't a lot of options out there. At least none that would have been starter material.

Agreed…but a 1B?

 

[stealth1]

Agreed…but a 1B?

When Comrie gets healthy I would let him be the backup and see if he can gain the form he had in Winnipeg.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I've been patient with Adams, but look at his off-season acquisitions that were meant to improve goaltending and add depth to the defense.

Summer 2022: Comrie, Lyubushkin. Huge fail on the former. He gave up on the latter.

Summer 2023: EJ, Clifton. EJ is obviously on his last legs, but at least will be gone at the end of the season. I see glimmers of hope for Clifton, but he's been a major disappointment at 3x$3.3M. He'll never be more than a 3rd-pairing guy. Neither is a significant upgrade over Lyubushkin.

There has been no addition of a shut-down type 3C who can win draws that the team so desperately needs..

Meanwhile he continues to hoard a treasure trove of assets - prospects, picks, and cap - that he should have been using to try to get this team into the playoffs. And he's dragging his feet on correcting the most glaringly obvious problem with the team - the coaching staff.

We should be way beyond excuse making - "there's nobody available, what is he supposed to do?", and well into demands for action.

 

[Mattilaus]

Completely ignoring his roster moves, the entire team essentially has regressed this season. That has to lay at someone's feet. These guys didn't all just decide to forget how to play hockey. If it's at Gronato's feet, that's Adams' problem to fix, if it isn't then it is at Adams' feet and he should be gone. Either way, Adams is at fault here if he keeps trotting out the same roster with the same coach to get the same results.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Completely ignoring his roster moves, the entire team essentially has regressed this season. That has to lay at someone's feet. These guys didn't all just decide to forget how to play hockey. If it's at Gronato's feet, that's Adams' problem to fix, if it isn't then it is at Adams' feet and he should be gone. Either way, Adams is at fault here if he keeps trotting out the same roster with the same coach to get the same results.

I suspect that Pegula doesn't care all that much. As long as Adams is covering Terry's butt, watching the bottom line and telling him what he wants to hear, i.e.; doing what Terry wants, everything is fine.

Thus Adams is under no pressure to do something about the coaching because his job is not at risk if the coaching sucks.

Besides, who wants to fire a friend (who you recently extended) when Xmas is right around the corner?

Frankly, there's no accountability in this organization so there's no pressure to do anything. I think all are content to just ride it out and hope the players begin to click like they did last season.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

What's different about the Sabres from other NHL organizations... i.e.; locker rooms?

I wish we could ask Sam Reinhart for a moment of candor.

Samson was a productive player here and now he's a productive player in Florida. I heard him say he wanted to stay but apparently Adams had determined it was time to move on from the Eichel era. Sam is in a unique portion to contrast the two organizations.

But he's a class act and would never reveal what's different about the teams. I'll bet it's significant though.

 

[SabresFan26]

Adams is a bad GM so far.

the only thing that’s been positive is drafting.

What trade do you like better as a Sabres fan?

Buffalo gets Tage Thompson, Vlad Sobotka, Pat Berglund, Ryan Johnson, Colin Miller

St. Louis gets Ryan O’Reilly

Or

Buffalo gets Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Noah Ostlund, Jordan Greenway

Vegas gets Jack Eichel and Mathieu Cataford

 

[TehDoak]

Completely ignoring his roster moves, the entire team essentially has regressed this season. That has to lay at someone's feet. These guys didn't all just decide to forget how to play hockey. If it's at Gronato's feet, that's Adams' problem to fix, if it isn't then it is at Adams' feet and he should be gone. Either way, Adams is at fault here if he keeps trotting out the same roster with the same coach to get the same results.

When you have the volume of guys with career years in one season, some regression is expected.

The problems is, Adams did not see that coming, at least based on his post season presser. He repeated that dumb "If everyone is just 1% better, we will be a playoff team" line a thousand times this summer. And, based on his moves this summer, he actually believed it.

In 2017, the Bills snuck into the playoffs. It was a great moment.

That summer, they traded their starting QB, cut their pro bowl running back, and let a bunch of guys walk via UFA. Now, in the NFL, the cap does dictate a lot. However, it would have been easy to try to run it back and be a playoff team again. They had the blueprint. However, the front office did an analysis and concluded that they couldn't likely contend for a super bowl even if they ran back this team, so they did the prudent thing and fielded a bad team after breaking a 17 year playoff drought.

Adams took a look at a team that had a bunch of career years and ignored all their obvious faults and said "LETS RUN IT BACK" and only signed two d-men and brought back everyone else.

It's not a perfect analogy, sure. That bills team was a lot of vets, not a lot of kids. But the point is, the front office sat down, was impartial, and made the correct choice for the long term.

I don't think anyone is the Adams front office is capable or sitting down, doing an impartial analysis of the teams strengths and weaknesses, and making a blueprint to re-solve the issues long term. Or if there is someone, their voice is being ignored or minimized. They haven't shown an ability to recognize issues and solve them. They've prioritized getting USA Hockey kids that Granato likes vs making any progress is finding outside solutions.

 

[TehDoak]

I realized after my last post a better analogy for what is going on. I've called Adams a 'steward' of the team before rather than a GM.

But....Adams is an office manager. And by all accounts, he's a good office manager. He listens to his employees. The coach wants a guy (Greenway, Clifton), he gets their guy. The scouts say "get this forward at the draft" by golly he drafts that forward.

The problem is, a team needs a CEO. They need a guy who is sitting there, not just thinking about what the staff is asking for, but what the organization needs. Someone with the depth of experience to realize when to push a bit, when to pull back, and when to cut bait. Someone who can convince a UFA this is a good situation and can present a plan and roles to players and convince them to come here. Who can gain the owners trust without being the owners pet.

And that ain't Adams.

 

[Irie]

I realized after my last post a better analogy for what is going on. I've called Adams a 'steward' of the team before rather than a GM.

But....Adams is an office manager. And by all accounts, he's a good office manager. He listens to his employees. The coach wants a guy (Greenway, Clifton), he gets their guy. The scouts say "get this forward at the draft" by golly he drafts that forward.

The problem is, a team needs a CEO. They need a guy who is sitting there, not just thinking about what the staff is asking for, but what the organization needs. Someone with the depth of experience to realize when to push a bit, when to pull back, and when to cut bait. Someone who can convince a UFA this is a good situation and can present a plan and roles to players and convince them to come here. Who can gain the owners trust without being the owners pet.

And that ain't Adams.

First of all, I think they probably expected some regression and growing pains, but I truly do not believe they felt pressure to make the playoffs this year, and I think most of the public comments about winning were just GM speak to appease the fan base. I still believe their plan is primarily to build a long-term contender that they feel will be achieved by slow cooking the rebuild.

I don't think it was the loses that they didn't anticipate, but the poor team performance in those loses... which has them on edge and is putting a large cloud over their slow cook plan.

As far as your description of Adams, I actually agree. He is one to avoid major decisions and defers to his "specialists" on the decisions he does make.

The thing about that is that it honestly is not the worst scenario.

Some GMs tend to draft well.
Some GMs tend to win trades
Some GMs are good contract negotiators.
Some GMs do well in the UFA market.
But most GMs do fairly poorly in most of these areas.

I'd rather have a GM that defers to good scouts and drafts well, and is hesitant to gamble on big trades or big UFA deals while rebuilding.

The majority of NHL GMs are their own worst enemies when they try to make big moves. I understand the frustration with Adams, but I also want to remind everyone that big moves often backfire more often than they work out.

Adams is not a top tier GM, but Terry Pegula is not likely to hire a top tier GM, so having a guy that does some things well and doesn't really screw the goose in anyone area is probably preferable to having a guy that swings for the fences everyday in the job and whiffs horribly on most swings.