What would you grade Adams this off season (so far)?

[May Day 10]

If this is it, then it is an F.

Hasn't done much to improve the team. They got a C to replace a better C they recently traded for a redundant defenseman. They traded a very recent top-10 pick to get that, and it has objective people outside Buffalo scratching their heads.

The skinner buyout this summer makes no sense, unless there was a plan to spend the savings and replace the production. The biggest cost savings on that is this season. If they just eat that savings, buying him out was a terrible decision on the cap, they have the $6.5 million season of dead money coming up and dead money through 2030. If they arent spending the money, just play out the year and buy him out next year (even if he sits in the pressbox).

I never really heard of anybody they brought in other than Zucker, although hopefully they bring more of an edge. They did need that. But do those guys move the needle closer to Boston, Toronto, Florida, Tampa, Rangers, Carolina, etc? Maybe they can eek out 90 points again and hit the league average.

 

[Zman5778]

If this is it, then it is an F.

Hasn't done much to improve the team.

I never really heard of anybody they brought in other than Zucker, although hopefully they bring more of an edge. They did need that.

Well, if you haven't heard of Gilbert, Malenstyn, McLeod, Nicolas Aube-Kubel or Lafferty......of course you'd think that the offseason is an F.

Adams added a LOT of speed, edge, tenacity and defensive ability to the team.....especially in the bottom 6. The team speed and defense is VASTLY improved. McLeod, for better or worse, is a better fit for what Adams/Ruff want to do know than Mittelstadt is/was.

The team being better is primarily dependent on Tage/Tuch/Cozens staying healthy and rebounding.

 

[Jim Bob]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5672796/2024/08/06/nhl-front-office-confidence-rankings-2024/

26. Buffalo Sabres​

Last year: 8th

“If we don’t make another big move and use the remaining cap space for Skinner’s cap space, the Sabres will be one of only two teams in the league that have had at least 7 percent or more of their salary cap unused in each of the last four years. They also have refused to weaponize the cap space to add assets. That’s not a team doing anything they can to win the Cup.”

“Adams and Co. have done a fantastic job drafting and developing players, but the roster has been ready to make a big step forward and contend for a playoff spot, and for the second offseason in a row they have failed to make a significant addition (top-six forward or top-four defenseman).”
After looking like one of the most exciting teams in the league during the 2022-23 season, there was a lot of hope that the Sabres were on the precipice of being the league’s next big thing — or just making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. That would be good, too.

Instead, the Sabres lit all that goodwill on fire over the last year and are seemingly back at square one with an increasingly impatient fan base.

Buffalo fans deserve better and that starts with a front office that actually spends what it takes to win. That the Sabres bought out Jeff Skinner for immediate cap gain only to not use that money feels like a massive misstep for a team that could use one or two impact players to put them over the top. Buffalo’s unwillingness to loosen up the purse strings has had a profound negative effect on how confident the team’s fans currently feel, putting the Sabres’ vision rightfully in question. In that vein, Buffalo getting a D-grade in both roster building and free agency feels apt.

The Sabres have a strong group of prospects ready to deliver and are rewarded for their pipeline and development as a result — it’s just not enough to overcome the problems everywhere else.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

If this is it, then it is an F.

Hasn't done much to improve the team. They got a C to replace a better C they recently traded for a redundant defenseman. They traded a very recent top-10 pick to get that, and it has objective people outside Buffalo scratching their heads.

The skinner buyout this summer makes no sense, unless there was a plan to spend the savings and replace the production. The biggest cost savings on that is this season. If they just eat that savings, buying him out was a terrible decision on the cap, they have the $6.5 million season of dead money coming up and dead money through 2030. If they arent spending the money, just play out the year and buy him out next year (even if he sits in the pressbox).

I never really heard of anybody they brought in other than Zucker, although hopefully they bring more of an edge. They did need that. But do those guys move the needle closer to Boston, Toronto, Florida, Tampa, Rangers, Carolina, etc? Maybe they can eek out 90 points again and hit the league average.

Good assessment. Bang on

Solid B.

Bottom six looks formidable. It doesn't seem like previous seasons where they took whomever they could. The team is much faster and under Lindy, can turn a corner.

For some reason, this doesn't feel he's done yet.

With the new bottom 6, this should free up Tage and others from the heavy defensive lifting, including PK. Could Tage not breaking his hand blocking a shot on the PK when the team was already losing 5-0 had an effect on his season? Maybe the goals we're looking for are already on the team.

Formidable? Really.