I will say this, and this alone, when it comes to Adams/Pegula...
The Sabres have spent money. They are not misers. To suggest that they are is stupid.
They have also made draft picks that we generally liked at the time.
Where they have failed, time and again, is in properly developing these guys. It's an absurd contrast to the Reiger years, where he would stash players away for years until they were ready.
I think Adams should be fired because he has no understanding of how to run an organization, not because he wasn't aggressive towards big fish. He can bring all the big fish in that he wants, but this is a cultural issue that needs to be built from the ground up and he cannot do it. He simply cannot.
What does big fish have to do with it, nobody is asking him to overpay UFA like Stamkos or Marchessault, just find the right players, but he doesn't even try, because other GMs find it for pennies or a little more, and Adams is just fine with Jokiharju, Bryson in the top 4, he is fine with having many kids in the top 6. That's what's terrible.
Look at Ruff and his previous team. GM Devils added Ruff Meier, Palat (although not very successfully), and they already had guys like Hughes, Hischier, Bratt in the top 6.
Even this season, just compare RD Devils and RD Sabres.
Hamilton, Pesce, Kovacevic, plus Nemec and Casey as young RDs.
We have Jokiharju, Clifton, Metsa (NO NHL CONTRACT), young Komarov and Prow? Yes, one of Byram and Dahlin can play RD, but Ruff has already said that he would prefer the guys to play on their side.
What did Fitzgerald do for young Luke Hughes? That's right, sign an experienced veteran in Pesce to play with him. What did Adams do for young Dahlin and Power? NO f***ING THING.
Fitzgerald went and signed Stefan Noesen and it pisses me off because I really wanted that player in Buffalo, couldn't they have offered him more money, that's a ridiculous contract for a guy like that. Because he would have been a perfect player for us, he's good in all situations and great front of the net and that was already known from his play in Canes. Well, if Adams paid him 3-3.5 million a year, is that a big fish or are there palm trees in New Jersey?
Need to be able to work conscientiously, and not whine about palm trees, taxes and other nonsense. This is a disgrace, not a general manager.