That's where Donny often inserted Bryson and Clague as well. I would not read too much into experimental pairings as a litmus test for front office expectations.
Kevyn Adams GM thread
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That's where Donny often inserted Bryson and Clague as well. I would not read too much into experimental pairings as a litmus test for front office expectations.
Unfortunately, smallish forwards do not carry much value until they are scoring prolifically in the league. Small, skilled forwards are the easiest prospects to hit on in the draft, because they usually develop earlier than larger prospects in other positions.
The problem is that you can only have so many small forwards on your roster if you want to compete, and most teams already have their quota.
Yes, they are evaluating the young players that they have deemed on the bubble of the "core vs expendable" debate. Mitts, Krebs, UPL, Joker... they all have shown some promise in the past. Mitts and Joker have talent, but they were boys last year. This year they are playing like men. This happens with a lot of prospects that are somewhat late bloomers.
What you don't see is what goes on at practice. The coaching staff sees guys like Thompson dominate practices, but fail to show the same effectiveness in games. Then one day the switch flips and Thompson is a beast in games. The fans had been calling to move him for two years, but the coaching staff held on to him because they were still evaluating him and they had not given up. That type of evaluation with young players does not happen in half a season like you are assuming it should. It is common and mistakes are made when decisions are rushed.
As for trading the farm for valuable returns being a good thing, you are going to get pennies on the dollar for small forwards in a trade if trading them for NHL roster help.
The plan likely is to hold on to those prospects until you are confident which on is going to be Skinner's replacement. The ones that you then decide to trade are probably not much less valuable than they were a year or two prior, so you aren't losing much holding them in this instance.
The problem really isn't with the slow evaluation process, it is in the concept that Donny could take a roster full of kids and transform them into a great team without having a solid group of veterans insulating them and helping them along. Good vets with winning pedigree are going to teach the kids so much more than Christie, Ellis, or Wilford ever could dream of.
You blame Adams, but I get the very strong impression that just about all of Adams' roster moves are done at Granato's request. I believe Granato wanted the young roster, and developing them all together was his brain-child. The plan came together after Granato was hired as coach. I think he believed he could compete and build the perfect team over time starting with a ridiculously young roster.
And once again, I am not defending Adams, He made the hire and enabled what has gone wrong. I am just giving my take on what I think is going on. He should have his own plan that was a bit more conservative, but the good news is that this situation is no where near as dire as you are making it out to be. This team is still in a pretty good place, despite the setback this year.
Isn't Adams situation some sort of a tag team matchup with another Carolina front office alumni?
Not sure folks understand that my frustrations are more about the level of play, the bonehead decisions made by the players on the ice and what I see as less than stellar efforts than I am about making the playoffs.
Yeah, I can rant about 12 years of futility there but it's the futility I see in their play that really pisses me off.
I can accept losing games if the Sabres play very good hockey and stats being to show that they are reducing their on-ic miscues. I cannot accept the slow starts, the seemingly lack of preparation and focus, and the growing display of an attitude of acceptance.
toddkaz
Registered User
- Nov 25, 2022
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This team has enough talent to win the division so whats the problem?
My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
This roster could be better, but they have enough talent and ability to be a playoff contender. There's a huge gap between what they're capable of and what they're doing.
The only player that they still has significant development upside with is Krebs and possibly UPL. They should have more than enough information on Mitts, UPL, and Joker. The fact that none of them got giant 7 year extensions probably tells you how the front office feels about them.
Thompson is still the most out of left field development story. He's the exception, not the rule. Players don't go from absolute trash for 3 years to a top line center.
Then for the love of god why do we keep drafting them then.
This is another topic, but Skinner should be bought out this summer. He's not part of the solution.
That is the core issue of Adams though. His knowledge of the NHL players is limited to who is on his staff. He hasn't spent time as a scout or as a front office for other teams. So when Granato wants a guy...he literally doesn't know any better. Between Adams love for his 'guys' and Granto's love for guys he coached 10 years ago, there is an organization issue with running such an inexperienced staff.
The problem is you are assuming a base level of competence of the front office. They haven't shown that. You are conflating a lack of any roster building or management with 'being conservative'.
They don't have to blow up everything to get right, but my god they need to address a whole lot of issues that haven't been addressed.
SabresFan26
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- May 28, 2003
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We are talking about last summer and the outlook of this season then.
The organization has a very different outlook on Mitts, Joker, and UpL now than they did 4 months ago. So your premise is faulty .
Prospects don't have to go from AHL to top line center to qualify for this scenario. Borgen is now a good top 4 physical D that was an example of a player they had not evaluated enough to know what they had. (And yes, they could have easily kept him for a small sweetener to Francis in the expansion draft).
Benson was a no brainier, but several of the others? No clue. And once again, I am not defending Adams, I am explaining the situation. I disagree with plenty of his moves. But I also defend him where I think the arguments against him are biased and wrong.
Agreed, and I have been saying so for months. You see, everything is not black and white. There is a ton of grey here, and I hated the Adams hire when it happened. I blasted him for several moves, but I give credit where credit is due and ate some crow in some areas as well. Your bias has you trying to find a way to fault Adams for literally everything that happens to this team. It is misguided
See, you can not admit that the drafting has been fairly solid. Some of the trades have been positive. Some of the contract negotiations have been decent. And avoiding some of the big trades or big UFA purchases has been extremely beneficial to this team. There is not just badness going on here, but you will not admit that.
It once again comes back to the fact that not many GMs get it right and take teams from basement to cup contenders. It is a difficult process that requires luck and a solid plan.
Adams has the roster heading in a positive direction (hard to type that now with tonight's events, but in the big picture it is true). I see coaching as the major issue right now, and I don't think a team full of vets would be playing well with the current game plan or the way this staff has this team executing.
SabresFan26
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- May 28, 2003
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sabresfan129103
1-4-6-14
I know Pegula is turned off to the idea, but they really need a President who is a hockey guy at the top with a vision. Having your GM with no experience, running the entire hockey ops part of the organization is not working.
Terry needs to be hands off. Hire a president with experience, let him clean house and bring in his own people. No more first time hires at critical positions.
Terry needs to be hands off. Hire a president with experience, let him clean house and bring in his own people. No more first time hires at critical positions.
Too soft plus they’re prone to prolonged lapses in their own zone. Need another top 4 Right shot d…As a poster posted earlier - we have smallish forwards which may be worth pennies on the dollar - but Savoie plus a top 5 protected pick wouldn’t get it done? Ya got think rebuild with Lindholm probably out the door after this year?
sabremike
Kemonito superfan
Even goddamned Mike Brown eventually figured out his bullshit way of running things needed to change but the clueless simpleton Pegula refuses to.
- Aug 19, 2005
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So, the answer to our decade of GM woes was not the uninspiring acolyte operating just down the hall from the GM's office after all. It would have been wildly fortuitous if that were the case, but clearly it's very f***ing far from the case.
Sorry Terry, get off your f***ing ass in Boca and bring in some professionals to run this operation. Like Oedipus, surely it must have dawned on you by now that YOU are the source of what plagues the Sabres. .
Sorry Terry, get off your f***ing ass in Boca and bring in some professionals to run this operation. Like Oedipus, surely it must have dawned on you by now that YOU are the source of what plagues the Sabres. .
Adams should be fired, and the new President of Hockey Operations should start interviewing for a new GM, who can then hire a new coach. And assistant coaches.
And who is going to hire the President of Hockey Operations? Sabretooth?
Terry Pegula hasn’t made one good f***ing hire yet.
SabresFan26
Registered User
- May 28, 2003
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