The Athletic LeBrun: There are no easy answers for the questions facing Kevyn Adams’ Sabres

[Jim Bob]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6013286/2024/12/23/sabres-kevyn-adams-tailspin/

As the Buffalo Sabres have descended into this 0-10-3 tailspin, landing them last in the NHL in points and headed toward a hard-to-fathom 14th straight season missing the playoffs, I keep thinking about the decisions ownership has made in its general manager hires.

Tim Murray was GM from January 2014 to April 2017, Jason Botterill from May 2017 to June 2020, and it’s been Kevyn Adams since then.

All three were first-time NHL GMs. That doesn’t mean they weren’t qualified. Everyone has to get their first chance at some point, and especially in the cases of Murray and Botterill, they had worked their way up the NHL scouting and front-office ranks before landing the gig.

Regardless, looking at where the franchise is now with the benefit of hindsight, handing the reins to first-time GMs three straight times can’t be glossed over.
Listen, no one is complaining in South Florida about first-time NHL GM Bill Zito, nor in Vegas about first-time NHL GM Kelly McCrimmon. But in Zito’s case, he’s got former GMs Rick Dudley, Paul Fenton and Les Jackson surrounding him in his inner circle. McCrimmon has George McPhee.

At the very least — especially with Adams, who is a very likable guy with tremendous passion for the sport — couldn’t the Sabres have brought in some sort of mentor to help him along the way? Like how Jim Rutherford is helping along first-time GM Patrik Allvin in Vancouver?

Wouldn’t it have made sense to bring in a Ray Shero or someone of that ilk to help support Adams? (Did I mention that Ken Holland is currently a free agent?)

The Sabres have locked up young core players to long-term deals: Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. All of them would be desirable NHL commodities on their own. But as a whole, they have failed to come together consistently as a nucleus of a team resembling a playoff contender.

The temptation now for Adams, or the pressure weighing on his shoulders, will be to make a roster-altering trade to shake things up. That’s a natural reaction.

And league sources suggest he’s pretty open-minded in his conversations with other teams. A lot of different things could happen depending on what teams are willing to do.

But as we’ve seen, there’s a risk of a panic move the franchise could regret. Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly are all former Sabres who became Stanley Cup champions elsewhere. There are different reasons those players ended up out of town, sure. But it all comes back to the seemingly never-ending question of what ails the Sabres franchise. It is a damaged brand.

And also facing Adams: As difficult as it is right now, especially for an awesome fan base in Buffalo that deserves so much better, this is the worst time to make a sizeable trade when the majority of your players are depressed assets with lowered values.

The smarter move is to wait this out and more fully investigate the market in the summer, when bigger trades are easier to pull off.

And between now and then, there’s the low-hanging fruit of yet another coaching change. Maybe Lindy Ruff is shown the door to give the team the short-term bump a coaching change often brings. But firing a coach eight months after he was named to replace the last coach fired seems rather flimsy as a fix.

Click to read more...

 

[Fjordy]

Just fire Adams and hire either a POHO/advisor or an experienced GM. That person will have nine months to work on a new team. A novice GM is not a problem if there is a clear and good plan and an experienced POHO/advisor overhead who has connections and can give advice. You don't want to hire Benning or Dorion as a GM just because they have experience.

 

[jc17]

You don't want to hire Benning or Dorion as a GM just because they have experience.

Chiarelli it is!

 

[Fjordy]

Chiarelli it is!

And this idiot too, there are a lot of either quite old people there who are unlikely to be GMs, especially in Buffalo, or idiots like Benning and others like him.

 

[Jim Bob]

Just fire Adams and hire either a POHO/advisor or an experienced GM. That person will have nine months to work on a new team. A novice GM is not a problem if there is a clear and good plan and an experienced POHO/advisor overhead who has connections and can give advice. You don't want to hire Benning or Dorion as a GM just because they have experience.

Pegula has said more than once that he doesn't want to hire a POHO and he sees no use for one.

I wonder if the drama around what happened with Pat LaFontaine when he was hired in that role and quit in short order has something to do with it.

It could also be that Pegula feels like if they hire an experienced front office person as POHO, that person would not listen to what Pegula wants and push for what they think is best. When they hired Adams, "feeling heard" was given as a major reason for that hire.

 

[Fjordy]

Pegula has said more than once that he doesn't want to hire a POHO and he sees no use for one.

I wonder if the drama around what happened with Pat LaFontaine when he was hired in that role and quit in short order has something to do with it.

It could also be that Pegula feels like if they hire an experienced front office person as POHO, that person would not listen to what Pegula wants and push for what they think is best. When they hired Adams, "feeling heard" was given as a major reason for that hire.

I don't care what Pegula thought, he obviously screwed up with his last hires. Let him hire an experienced GM or at least an advisor, that's not the same as POHO. Or let him hire the firm that found him the Bills coach.

 

[toddkaz]

last place 34 games in.

not an easy feat

 

[slip]

Let’s not over complicate the process of falling on one’s sword.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Yeah. This team isnt one swift trade away from competiting. Fire Adams. Let the new GM navigate the market and get a feel of who he wants to keep. The last thing we need is Adams making an impulse trade trying to save a season that's already down the toilet.

Pegula should be focusing on a GM/HC search rather than allowing Adams to make another trade.

 

[May Day 10]

Lots of correct things. I wish people would stop adding the requirement of how much of a nice/likeable guy Kevyn Adams is. Is he really? What he stooped to in order to land that position (bloodbath firings in a pandemic) (and also, if you are to believe Peters, bad-mouthing Botterill to Kim and Terry Pegula in the shadows)... makes me not really like him. His stances in his PCs and interviews arent likeable.

There is only 1 answer here. The most important Lebrun sentence is the shortest one: "It is a damaged brand".

This is absolutely the case. It is damaged on all fronts in the hockey world, with fans, and I wonder if the players aren't too prideful and hopeful in playing for this organization. The only way to fix this is a seismic change in the way Pegula has done things. That is immediate dismissal of Kevyn Adams and bringing in a POHO who has been given contractual autonomy and promised resources to build a professional hockey program once again. An apology to the fans would be appreciated, but I would take the rest of it without the apology.

 

[Jim Bob]

Buffalo Sabres sign GM Kevyn Adams to multi-year extension

The former NHL forward has been involved in the Sabres organization since 2009.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

First named general manager in January of 2020, Adams has held the role for the past two seasons. Since starting the job, the Sabres have a 47-73-18 record.

“Kevyn’s leadership and vision over the past two seasons has proven to be invaluable, and I am confident in his ability to continue to move us forward as an organization,” said Sabres owner Terry Pegula in the team’s press release.

“He is respected by players, coaches, staff, and peers around the league alike due to the poise with which he carries himself and the respect he reciprocates to every individual he encounters. He has grown in different roles throughout the organization, providing him unique perspectives that help him perform at the highest level as general manager.”

I can't wait for the Pegula quotes when instead of firing Adams, they give him another contract extension.

 

[Fjordy]

Buffalo Sabres sign GM Kevyn Adams to multi-year extension

The former NHL forward has been involved in the Sabres organization since 2009.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

I can't wait for the Pegula quotes when instead of firing Adams, they give him another contract extension.

I can't believe it, not after a season like this.

 

[Beerz]

The Buffalo Sabres I believe have hired first time GMs since it's inception except for Punch Imlach i believe.

 

[Jim Bob]

I can't believe it, not after a season like this.

I can as long as Adams continues to communicate well with Terry. And from when Kevyn said recently, he talks to Terry every day.

 

[slip]

I can as long as Adams continues to communicate well with Terry. And from when Kevyn said recently, he talks to Terry every day.

It’s like me cheating on my wife over and over but she’s okay with it because we talk about it everyday.

Terry the hockey cuck.

 

[Jim Bob]

The Buffalo Sabres I believe have hired first time GMs since it's inception except for Punch Imlach i believe.

Kevyn Adams - rookie GM
Jason Botterill - rookie GM
Tim Murray - rookie GM
Darcy Regier - rookie GM
John Muckler - rookie GM
Gerry Meehan - rookie GM
Scotty Bowman - previously GM/head coach with the St Louis Blues
John Anderson - rookie interim GM
Punch Imlach - previously GM/head coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs

 

[Beerz]

The I talk to Terry everyday spiel started when people were complaining that Terry was an absent owner and only cared about the Bills.

That was after being accused of being a meddling owner.

Sometimes those arguments are spouted at the same time.

I'll judge Terry on his decisions..which have been pretty horrible for the most part..

 

[Jim Bob]

The I talk to Terry everyday spiel started when people were complaining that Terry was an absent owner and only cared about the Bills.

That was after being accused of being a meddling owner.

Sometimes those arguments are spouted at the same time.

I'll judge Terry on his decisions..which have been pretty horrible for the most part..

The emphasis on communication between the owner(s) and the GM have been mentioned when they fired Murray, fired Botterill and hired Adams, and when they extended Adams.

I think it is fair to say that is a high priority for ownership.

 

[Fjordy]

I can as long as Adams continues to communicate well with Terry. And from when Kevyn said recently, he talks to Terry every day.

This will not happen.

 

[Jim Bob]

This will not happen.

You hope it won't happen.

I could easily see the big shake up move not being Adams being fired, but they fire Ruff and promote Appert to head coach.

 

[Beerz]

The emphasis on communication between the owner(s) and the GM have been mentioned when they fired Murray, fired Botterill and hired Adams, and when they extended Adams.

I think it is fair to say that is a high priority for ownership.

Of course it is. It would be really weird if it weren't.

 

[Fjordy]

You hope it won't happen.

I could easily see the big shake up move not being Adams being fired, but they fire Ruff and promote Appert to head coach.

Adams should go before Ruff, unless Ruff goes himself. What's the point of replacing Ruff with Appert? Zero sense.

 

[May Day 10]

They all need to go. Whitewash. Maybe not all at once because they need to keep the lights on, but in my mind, some of these long tenures that management has been attached to need to be severed:
Adams
Ruff
Appert (the rest of the asst coaching staff and also that new appert they hired in Rochester (Terry has a 'type")
Nightingale
Forton
Jakubowski
Crowe
Ventura
Karmanos.

It needs to be completely rebuilt from the top-down without any preconditions.

 

[toddkaz]

They all need to go. Whitewash. Maybe not all at once because they need to keep the lights on, but in my mind, some of these long tenures that management has been attached to need to be severed:
Adams
Ruff
Appert (the rest of the asst coaching staff and also that new appert they hired in Rochester (Terry has a 'type")
Nightingale
Forton
Jakubowski
Crowe
Ventura
Karmanos.

It needs to be completely rebuilt from the top-down without any preconditions.

That wont happen as long as Pegula is owner.

 

[Fjordy]

That wont happen as long as Pegula is owner.

Well, there are all sorts of options for him not to be the owner.