Kevyn Adams GM thread

[toddkaz]

With more and more smoke that Miller could be the odd man out, Adams's phone certainly isn't ringing on that front as there is no shot that Miller waives his full NTC to come to this tire fire.

Miller has a NMC so there is that.

 

[truthbluth]

This thread is ridiculous.
Kevyn Adams being a GM in the NHL is just ridiculous.
The Sabres are ridiculous.
Just an unserious franchise.

 

[Ace]

 

[Ygo88]

Look at Lindy's old team! Look at Lindy's current team! And I like Lindy!

 

[Ace]

Look at Lindy's old team! Look at Lindy's current team! And I like Lindy!

The players have failed under multiple coaches. It’s been a clear roster issue for the entire tenure of this regime. And it never changes. Under this ownership I doubt it ever will.

 

[Ygo88]

The players have failed under multiple coaches. It’s been a clear roster issue for the entire tenure of this regime. And it never changes. Under this ownership I doubt it ever will.

Entirely agree... the roster, the underspending, the lack of urgency, the no assistants hired for the coach who is half priced. Not a serious franchise at all!

 

[sabremike]

Random thought: If Adams were deliberately attempting to fail miserably what different moves would he have made over the past 5 seasons?

 

[Chainshot]

Look at Lindy's old team! Look at Lindy's current team! And I like Lindy!

Lindy's old team also had some great expected values and got some terrible goaltending. Despite only being around for one year, the narrative was in the 2nd year of good expected when they set a team record for points, it was all due to Brunette, rather than getting modestly better goaltending. Then Brunette went and they lost their top defenseman - love or hate him Hamilton is their #1 guy - and it was rolled back to beating up Ruff as the coach. With goaltending improvements, that team has aged nicely into their current position. They have two centers I would take before anyone on the Sabres and a couple of defensemen I'd take for the 2nd pair on the Sabres before anyone else.

That said, Adams continues to be a fool. He's followed the Botterill path of just not making any moves and now the timeline horizons have gotten very tight.

I would also point out that their xG numbers are very much a case of Dahlin's importance to this team.

 

[Gabrielor]

Terry Pegula needing to be and feel validated about his hockey opinions is very likely what's cost and what'll continue to cost the Sabres from ever hiring quality management.

We have 14 years of proof, Terry. When it comes to hockey, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Willgamesh]

Random thought: If Adams were deliberately attempting to fail miserably what different moves would he have made over the past 5 seasons?

none.

 

[OkimLom]

24-25 Season - 41 games: 15-21-5 126 GF 140 GA
23-24 Season - 41 games 17-20-4 122 GF 138 GA
22-23 Season - 41 games 21-18-2 158 GF 142 GA
21-22 Season - 41 games 13-21-7 109 GF 141 GA

Interesting to look at history of Adam's tenure here as GM.

 

[bodechek]

24-25 Season - 41 games: 15-21-5 126 GF 140 GA
23-24 Season - 41 games 17-20-4 122 GF 138 GA
22-23 Season - 41 games 21-18-2 158 GF 142 GA
21-22 Season - 41 games 13-21-7 109 GF 141 GA

Interesting to look at history of Adam's tenure here as GM.

With a record like that, any other organization would of fired Kevyn Adams by now. The only blemish is the 22-23 season where it was a winning season, but yet no playoff appearance.

 

[OkimLom]

With a record like that, any other organization would of fired Kevyn Adams by now. The only blemish is the 22-23 season where it was a winning season, but yet no playoff appearance.

It was more of an exercise to see where the team was at the half way point.

The back half of those seasons:

24-25 Season - TBD
23-24 Season - Backend 41 games 22-17-2 122 GF 105 GA
22-23 Season - Backend 41 games 21-15-2 135 GF 155 GA
21-22 Season - Backend 41 games 19-18-4 120 GF 146 GA

Edit: Expectations; MAYBE a slight improvement, but not enough of a large improvement to expect a serious playoff push coming up.

 

[HaNotsri]

24-25 Season - 41 games: 15-21-5 126 GF 140 GA
23-24 Season - 41 games 17-20-4 122 GF 138 GA
22-23 Season - 41 games 21-18-2 158 GF 142 GA
21-22 Season - 41 games 13-21-7 109 GF 141 GA

Interesting to look at history of Adam's tenure here as GM.

Interesting how consistent our goals against are

 

[slip]

Another look at Adams’ history:

20-21 missed playoffs
21-22 missed playoffs
22-23 missed playoffs
23-24 missed playoffs
24-25 missed playoffs

Guy is consistent.

 

[bodechek]

It was more of an exercise to see where the team was at the half way point.

The back half of those seasons:

24-25 Season - TBD
23-24 Season - Backend 41 games 22-17-2 122 GF 105 GA
22-23 Season - Backend 41 games 21-15-2 135 GF 155 GA
21-22 Season - Backend 41 games 19-18-4 120 GF 146 GA

Edit: Expectations; MAYBE a slight improvement, but not enough of a large improvement to expect a serious playoff push coming up.

A slight improvement is not much to get excited about. This team has to start making big steps forward. Otherwise the streak of not making the playoffs will continue. This is not the right mix of players, more veterans are needed to guide the younger players. Problem is, the way this team is managed, who would want to go to the Sabres? Losing a player like Eichel speaks huge volumes throughout the league.

 

[Faceboner]

Why the hell did McLeod fall out of favor? They put Cozens at 1C, 2C, he gets a lot of chances in the center but is still terrible, especially in defense, but McLeod doesn't get those chances now. Using McLeod as a 4C with players who can't produce just doesn't make sense for me.

McLeod at 2c with peterka and cozens on the wings would be a good speedy shot suppression line that could drive possession all have wheels and puck carrying ability and enough passing skill from jjp and DC24 to work the cycle and create high danger scoring opportunities the 3rd line would have to be benson-kulich/Krebs-quinn
Unless Benson can work on the top line and we move zucker down to be a vet presencei I would only do that if jiri was the center it's just an idea have no idea if it would actually work since I am not in the lockerroom or behind the bench

 

[OkimLom]

A slight improvement is not much to get excited about. This team has to start making big steps forward. Otherwise the streak of not making the playoffs will continue. This is not the right mix of players, more veterans are needed to guide the younger players. Problem is, the way this team is managed, who would want to go to the Sabres? Losing a player like Eichel speaks huge volumes throughout the league.

I agree, and kicking the can down the road of addressing areas of the team that need attention that could have built a foundation of stability and accountability, in favor of development of every aspect of an organization (coaches, management, and players) overseen by someone who has NEVER done such a thing, and an owner that has put winning behind the importance of making sure his voice and vision is heard and followed doesn’t help.

The Sabres were in trouble long before Eichel asked for a trade and surely before he got injured.

 

[Faceboner]

Another look at Adams’ history:

20-21 missed playoffs
21-22 missed playoffs
22-23 missed playoffs
23-24 missed playoffs
24-25 missed playoffs

Guy is consistent.

Same with botterill and Murray and a certain point we just have to stick it out with the guys we have as overpaying in a trade and creating another hole in the roster inducing the groundhog state we are in we tried to rush the rebuild and aquire players at first we had no forward core then we got eichel rhino, Kane and ror but the rest was bleh with no defense or bottom six now we have a decent 4th line and 1st line the mid six is young and still figuring it out and we have three great defensemen trading cozens and Byram fixes the center problem instantly but leaves a hole at defense lets keep our position of strength and work on the bottom 3d. 13 years I get it but making trades out of desperation is not good for our situation and besides EP is an 11 million dollar player I trust in cozens to turn it around if anything we should flip Quinn but with his season that would be an ill advised idea. We have to fill in the holes we have with another FA like zucker. We need a shutdown physical guy with power and we need a dman who can move the puck on the 3rd pair those guys should be relatively cheap considering cap hit and cost acquisition. There is no magic trade that will make us immediately better half our d-core is a misfit for what we have as I like Clifton on the 3rd pair and Sammy is great but often injured but Bryson is a 7th d a good one but handling consistent minutes isn't his Forte and I like Joker but it's time to trade him for whatever we can get. As for our forward core we were expecting Quinn to be a solution but progression isn't linear and he missed a whole year getting back into a groove is hard even eichel didn't look like his dominant self after the surgery and it takes time playing at the NHL level is no joke and takes serious conditionioning and successful rehab doesn't mean you play at the level you were at instantly.

 

[Fjordy]

Same with botterill and Murray and a certain point we just have to stick it out with the guys we have as overpaying in a trade and creating another hole in the roster inducing the groundhog state we are in we tried to rush the rebuild and aquire players at first we had no forward core then we got eichel rhino, Kane and ror but the rest was bleh with no defense or bottom six now we have a decent 4th line and 1st line the mid six is young and still figuring it out and we have three great defensemen trading cozens and Byram fixes the center problem instantly but leaves a hole at defense lets keep our position of strength and work on the bottom 3d. 13 years I get it but making trades out of desperation is not good for our situation and besides EP is an 11 million dollar player I trust in cozens to turn it around if anything we should flip Quinn but with his season that would be an ill advised idea. We have to fill in the holes we have with another FA like zucker. We need a shutdown physical guy with power and we need a dman who can move the puck on the 3rd pair those guys should be relatively cheap considering cap hit and cost acquisition. There is no magic trade that will make us immediately better half our d-core is a misfit for what we have as I like Clifton on the 3rd pair and Sammy is great but often injured but Bryson is a 7th d a good one but handling consistent minutes isn't his Forte and I like Joker but it's time to trade him for whatever we can get. As for our forward core we were expecting Quinn to be a solution but progression isn't linear and he missed a whole year getting back into a groove is hard even eichel didn't look like his dominant self after the surgery and it takes time playing at the NHL level is no joke and takes serious conditionioning and successful rehab doesn't mean you play at the level you were at instantly.

There are so many things I disagree with, no dude, just no.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

My opinion has been that the accountability/culture/what you want to call it was seriously disrupted by bringing in several 'leaders' who all had substance abuse issues.

 

[Ace]

My opinion has been that the accountability/culture/what you want to call it was seriously disrupted by bringing in several 'leaders' who all had substance abuse issues.

Mine is that preaching accountability with an unqualified, failed GM in place is a waste of f***ing time.

If there was any in this organization…Adams would have never seen his fourth offseason. He’s had FIVE.

 

[Fjordy]

Adams must be fired, no options. I'd rather give Karmanos a chance if Terry doesn't want to hire anyone from outside than continue to watch Adams do nothing to fix the situation when he had plenty of opportunities to do so.

 

[Faceboner]

There are so many things I disagree with, no dude, just no.

Well we tried trading our way out of problems before it didn't work I'm down for ep40 but what other dman will be top pair quality in our roster or one that we aquire once we trade away Byram unless we draft shaefer the way its headed now we could end up with misa,hagens,Schaeffer or martone I know another top prospect won't do anything but the team is inexperienced and ep likely costs cozens+Byram and 1st and a trade like that leaves a gaping hole on defense especially considering that Quinn isn't producing and the rest of the top 9 is young and inexperienced it would be like getting ror again great addition but so many holes in the rest of the roster we make the trade and we are happy until we are out of the race next year and we call to rebuild the rebuild eventually trading away dahlin, tuch, ep and Thompson I'm not saying don't get the trade done just don't get fleeced it's either Byram or cozens not both I would trade Byram+ostlund as the starter and shop cozens for a top four d man replacement if one is available

 

[Fjordy]

Well we tried trading our way out of problems before it didn't work I'm down for ep40 but what other dman will be top pair quality in our roster or one that we aquire once we trade away Byram unless we draft shaefer the way its headed now we could end up with misa,hagens,Schaeffer or martone I know another top prospect won't do anything but the team is inexperienced and ep likely costs cozens+Byram and 1st and a trade like that leaves a gaping hole on defense especially considering that Quinn isn't producing and the rest of the top 9 is young and inexperienced it would be like getting ror again great addition but so many holes in the rest of the roster we make the trade and we are happy until we are out of the race next year and we call to rebuild the rebuild eventually trading away dahlin, tuch, ep and Thompson I'm not saying don't get the trade done just don't get fleeced it's either Byram or cozens not both I would trade Byram+ostlund as the starter and shop cozens for a top four d man replacement if one is available

I think you are wrong. This board overrates Byram. Byram is successful only because he plays with Dahlin, that's all. Jokiharju had even better metrics than Byram when he played with Dahlin, any defenseman who is not a complete black hole will succeed with Rasmus. It will be much easier to replace Byram than to find a 1C like Pettersson. Look at Byram's numbers not with Rasmus or when he was injured, they are bad, even Dahlin - Power put up better numbers (albeit a small sample) than Dahlin - Byram. I bet Dahlin - Fabbro for example will be no worse than Dahlin - Byram, because Fabbro is a great complementary player and has already done well with Josi and Werenski on different teams. You don't even need a guy like Byram to succeed with Dahlin. Also, Dahlin can play both LD and RD, and this opens up many more opportunities for us to close this position, we will add a top 4 RD or a top 4 LD. In a trade or in UFA, it does not matter so much.

Murray and Botterill built their teams wrong, that doesn't mean we should do the same. Let's say we trade Byram + Cozens for EP, that's it, we have a core that we build around and supplement with the right players and some of the right vets. Sure, if we can get EP40 without giving up one of Byram or Cozens that would be nice, but targetl is to get EP40, there is no similar alternative and our situation in the top 6 C is questionable right now. Pettersson and Thompson in the top 6 as centers gives us a huge boost.

Build your team right, we have 8-9 months to do it, build your defense right around Dahlin and one of Power/Byram, build your attack right around Thompson, Tuch and some young, talented players, re-sign Zucker or find a vet like him, replace Greenway with someone like Crouse (ideally), do the right things and it won't look like a Murray or Botterill team.