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Fire Kevyn Adams


GASabresIUFAN

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17 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I think he hoped it would but doubted it would. Hence why he favored shorter deals. 

Acquiring bad players like Staal was *never* going to work, regardless of the length of contract. If I was him I’d have put more emphasis on the quality of player. 

That he thought so low of his own ability to bring in and identify talent that would lead to a winning team isn’t exactly the most encouraging thing. 

But he may have accurately read that it was impossible without a full scale rebuild. We shall see. 

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3 hours ago, Thorny said:

Acquiring bad players like Staal was *never* going to work, regardless of the length of contract. If I was him I’d have put more emphasis on the quality of player. 

That he thought so low of his own ability to bring in and identify talent that would lead to a winning team isn’t exactly the most encouraging thing. 

But he may have accurately read that it was impossible without a full scale rebuild. We shall see. 

I think he brought in who he could. I think Staal was a hail Mary at having a serviceable 2c and I think Adams made that move himself. I think other guys were Krueger picks. Adams at least knew they couldn't trade good draft or prospect assets to fix anything and he clearly avoided that. That's why I think also he thought they might need to rebuild regardless of last year. 

I'd already note even if 2020 was all Adams, he clearly recognized a fault in his talent evaluation and took steps to correct it. 

Edited by LGR4GM
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5 hours ago, SabresVet said:

You did not answer the question.  Do you believe the dominant voice in re-signing Skinner to that contract was Botterill?

 

I did answer it. 

 "I would think Botterill felt trapped and feared he'd lose his job if Skinner walked. Irregardless, he was the GM at the time, so it's on him." 

So yes, if Terry was willing to pay, JBot was willing to sign.  

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3 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I did answer it. 

 "I would think Botterill felt trapped and feared he'd lose his job if Skinner walked. Irregardless, he was the GM at the time, so it's on him." 

So yes, if Terry was willing to pay, JBot was willing to sign.  

You still didn't answer.

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1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I think he brought in who he could. I think Staal was a hail Mary at having a serviceable 2c and I think Adams made that move himself. I think other guys were Krueger picks. Adams at least knew they couldn't trade good draft or prospect assets to fix anything and he clearly avoided that. That's why I think also he thought they might need to rebuild regardless of last year. 

I'd already note even if 2020 was all Adams, he clearly recognized a fault in his talent evaluation and took steps to correct it. 

What results did that yield?  Caggiula returned and he signed Jankowski and Hayden upfront.  He brought in Anderson and Dell for goaltending and added Hagg and Butcher on the defense.  Which of these have made a positive impact this season? The best signings were Hinostroza and Pysyk and both have been ok, but not exactly guys one really hopes return next season.  

Did Karmanos and company help on the trades of Risto, Reinhart and Eichel?  Hopefully, but we have yet to see anything of impact from those deals so far at the NHL level.  

The truth is his talent evaluation at the NHL level is crap so far. 

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3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What results did that yield?  Caggiula returned and he signed Jankowski and Hayden upfront.  He brought in Anderson and Dell for goaltending and added Hagg and Butcher on the defense.  Which of these have made a positive impact this season? The best signings were Hinostroza and Pysyk and both have been ok, but not exactly guys one really hopes return next season.  

Did Karmanos and company help on the trades of Risto, Reinhart and Eichel?  Hopefully, but we have yet to see anything of impact from those deals so far at the NHL level.  

The truth is his talent evaluation at the NHL level is crap so far. 

Some may think I’m splitting hairs here, but I’d say it’s his ability to bring in good players that has been lacking.

The truth is that based on the contracts he has handed out, and the assets given up for the players he has acquired, his evaluation has been pretty solid. He’s acquired JAGs at JAG prices.

I’d say Anderson, Hinostroza, Caggiula, Pysyk have certainly earned their contracts. Hagg and Hayden are within reason for what they bring. Eakin, Dell and Butcher have been misses, but aren’t anchors. Asplund and Thompson have been good deals. Tuch, Mitts and Joki are TBD. None of them except, obviously, Tuch, have cost much in assets.

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44 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Some may think I’m splitting hairs here, but I’d say it’s his ability to bring in good players that has been lacking.

The truth is that based on the contracts he has handed out, and the assets given up for the players he has acquired, his evaluation has been pretty solid. He’s acquired JAGs at JAG prices.

I’d say Anderson, Hinostroza, Caggiula, Pysyk have certainly earned their contracts. Hagg and Hayden are within reason for what they bring. Eakin, Dell and Butcher have been misses, but aren’t anchors. Asplund and Thompson have been good deals. Tuch, Mitts and Joki are TBD. None of them except, obviously, Tuch, have cost much in assets.

Teams cannot survive on JAGs alone.  Also other then Hinostroza and Pysyk, which JAG is earning his dough?  Anderson is likely done for the season playing just 6 games.  Caggiula has 5 points in his 18 games and is gone for a minimum of a few more weeks. Also his advanced stats are down with Eakin and Bjork. He acquired Bjork from Boston in the Hall deal, he is on the payroll for this season and next and is probably our worst forward.  You complained  about a few years of Sheary's contract, what about 2.5 years of Bjork? His 4 pts in 25 games is very impressive for $1.6 mill.  Not only that but we gave up an effective 4th line center in Lazar to get Bjork in addition to trading Hall.  Hayden isn't an NHL player.  Murray outplayed him in camp and this season.  Hayden should be waived, so no he hasn't come close to earning his deal either.  Butcher, Eakin and Dell are a waste of 10% of our cap this season.  Hagg is giving us less then he gave the Flyers.  His -11 is the worst on the team and his other metrics are terrible as well.  I actually had high hopes for Hagg, but sadly he hasn't come close to delivering value on his $1.6 cap hit.

Spin it any way you want, but his JAGs from this season and last are terrible with the exception of Hinostroza and maybe Pysyk.  

Not only has he not found good players, he has only found 1 decent and maybe 1 other passable player.  Here again is his list of acquisitions who have played for us in the NHL.  Hall, Staal, Eakin, Bjork, Caggiula, Anderson, Dell, Subban, Tokarski, Reider, Sheahan, Tuch, Hagg, Hayden, Butcher, Irwin, Davidson, Hinostroza, Pysyk, Fogarty, Jankowski, and Wolanin. 

The sad part of this mess is that he promised not to block prospects with his acquisitions.  Somehow Murray, Samuelsson and R2 have spent time in Rochester because of this acquisitions of guys like Caggiula, Hayden and Butcher.  Had he just let the kids play instead of the vets, we'd probably have a better team.

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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On 12/10/2021 at 4:51 PM, thewookie1 said:

Regier:

Girgs

 

Murray: 

Okposo

Olofsson

Asplund

 

Botterill:

Thompson

Mitts

Dahlin

Miller

Skinner

Jokiharju

Bryson

UPL

Cozens

Murray 

 


Adams:

Cagguila

Butcher

Hinostroza

Hayden

Anderson

Dell

Tokarski

Subban

Tuch

Hagg

*Pysyk*

Bjork

Eakin


 

It doesn’t make a significant difference to the overall point, but Murray was a Murray draft selection.

On 12/10/2021 at 5:10 PM, Thorny said:

Murray's is actually probably second lol

This is what I mean, what Adams has done so far can be best summed up by A) What @Archie Leesaid: Things that are not terrible, and B) commit a couple of strong looking drafts to paper. 

I really do think A factors in as much as B, too, to the positive perception. You hear a lot of pretty glowing reviews for a GM who's team has literally just accumulated losses since he took over. People want the "just let everything develop" route. No "quick fix" effort. 

He hasn't really done very much. He's the guy who drafted Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka and didn't handcuff the organization long term with anything. 

I would add to this that the organizational overhaul and the people brought in by Adams should be another point in his favor, though at this point it is also an “on paper” type of situation.  The changes haven’t really bore fruit yet.

On 12/11/2021 at 6:52 PM, LGR4GM said:

I think Adams gave Krueger and Terry what they wanted in 2020 even though he had doubts. When he went up in Flames he convinced Terry that it was time to step back and do this right. Terry agreed and Adams really become a true GM the day he fired Krueger. That's where I start measuring what he does. 

Seems like an easy excuse for Adams’ first season, but I do agree.

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On 12/11/2021 at 10:36 PM, Brawndo said:

So You’re saying Adams knew it wouldn’t work? 

Adams didn't know but he likely had some reservations hence the lack of major trades.

Staal, to be honest was still, in theory, a great move. However, for whatever reason, Staal fell off a cliff at a far more drastic rate then anyone could of expected after his solid season and great playoffs the prior season. He threw up a Hail Mary to keep Eichel here, make the owners happy, and get the fans reinvested.

On paper their lineup looked solid

Hall - Eichel - Reinhart

Olofsson - Staal - Skinner

Girgs - Eakin - Thompson

etc. etc...  not perfect but had legitimate potential. In a way I also sense that he looked into goalies but between his cap constraints and the price via trade it was untenable. So his hope was for Ullmark to play 35 to 45 games, and Hutton or UPL to start the remaining 11 to 21 games with at very least passable stats.

 

Instead Eichel got hurt pre-season, Hutton's play actually got worse, Ullmark got hurt twice, we went through 6 goalies (a 7th on the bench) and ever perceivable worst case scenario played out with the acquisitions. Staal became old, Hall stopped trying after a short period of games, Eakin didn't even give replacement level play and Krueger, a noted inspirational speaker, completely lost the team. Not to mention one of the heart and soul players in Girgensons got hurt in the team scrimmage prior to the season.   

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7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Teams cannot survive on JAGs alone.  Also other then Hinostroza and Pysyk, which JAG is earning his dough?  Anderson is likely done for the season playing just 6 games.  Caggiula has 5 points in his 18 games and is gone for a minimum of a few more weeks. Also his advanced stats are down with Eakin and Bjork. He acquired Bjork from Boston in the Hall deal, he is on the payroll for this season and next and is probably our worst forward.  You complained  about a few years of Sheary's contract, what about 2.5 years of Bjork? His 4 pts in 25 games is very impressive for $1.6 mill.  Not only that but we gave up an effective 4th line center in Lazar to get Bjork in addition to trading Hall.  Hayden isn't an NHL player.  Murray outplayed him in camp and this season.  Hayden should be waived, so no he hasn't come close to earning his deal either.  Butcher, Eakin and Dell are a waste of 10% of our cap this season.  Hagg is giving us less then he gave the Flyers.  His -11 is the worst on the team and his other metrics are terrible as well.  I actually had high hopes for Hagg, but sadly he hasn't come close to delivering value on his $1.6 cap hit.

Spin it any way you want, but his JAGs from this season and last are terrible with the exception of Hinostroza and maybe Pysyk.  

Not only has he not found good players, he has only found 1 decent and maybe 1 other passable player.  Here again is his list of acquisitions who have played for us in the NHL.  Hall, Staal, Eakin, Bjork, Caggiula, Anderson, Dell, Subban, Tokarski, Reider, Sheahan, Tuch, Hagg, Hayden, Butcher, Irwin, Davidson, Hinostroza, Pysyk, Fogarty, Jankowski, and Wolanin. 

The sad part of this mess is that he promised not to block prospects with his acquisitions.  Somehow Murray, Samuelsson and R2 have spent time in Rochester because of this acquisitions of guys like Caggiula, Hayden and Butcher.  Had he just let the kids play instead of the vets, we'd probably have a better team.

Like I said, JAGs at JAG prices. 

Do you think that Adams intended any of the expiring contracts on the Sabres this year to be anything other than one-year roster filler?

 

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8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Teams cannot survive on JAGs alone.  Also other then Hinostroza and Pysyk, which JAG is earning his dough?  Anderson is likely done for the season playing just 6 games.  Caggiula has 5 points in his 18 games and is gone for a minimum of a few more weeks. Also his advanced stats are down with Eakin and Bjork. He acquired Bjork from Boston in the Hall deal, he is on the payroll for this season and next and is probably our worst forward.  You complained  about a few years of Sheary's contract, what about 2.5 years of Bjork? His 4 pts in 25 games is very impressive for $1.6 mill.  Not only that but we gave up an effective 4th line center in Lazar to get Bjork in addition to trading Hall.  Hayden isn't an NHL player.  Murray outplayed him in camp and this season.  Hayden should be waived, so no he hasn't come close to earning his deal either.  Butcher, Eakin and Dell are a waste of 10% of our cap this season.  Hagg is giving us less then he gave the Flyers.  His -11 is the worst on the team and his other metrics are terrible as well.  I actually had high hopes for Hagg, but sadly he hasn't come close to delivering value on his $1.6 cap hit.

Spin it any way you want, but his JAGs from this season and last are terrible with the exception of Hinostroza and maybe Pysyk.  

Not only has he not found good players, he has only found 1 decent and maybe 1 other passable player.  Here again is his list of acquisitions who have played for us in the NHL.  Hall, Staal, Eakin, Bjork, Caggiula, Anderson, Dell, Subban, Tokarski, Reider, Sheahan, Tuch, Hagg, Hayden, Butcher, Irwin, Davidson, Hinostroza, Pysyk, Fogarty, Jankowski, and Wolanin. 

The sad part of this mess is that he promised not to block prospects with his acquisitions.  Somehow Murray, Samuelsson and R2 have spent time in Rochester because of this acquisitions of guys like Caggiula, Hayden and Butcher.  Had he just let the kids play instead of the vets, we'd probably have a better team.

The GM has made a conscience decision that he would rather have the kids get extended playing time in Rochester that would enhance their development as opposed to getting lesser playing time in Buffalo. Could Quinn, Peterka and Krebs replace some of the JAGS now and help the team? I'm not sure about that. Maybe so.  What's more likely to happen is that after a full or near full year in Rochester these players will be on the Sabre roster next year. If you add Samuelsson, Power and Tuch to the mix you are looking at half a dozen players who will be added to the Sabre roster next year and moving out some of the JAGS that you are lamenting about. The emphasis is on the development of the prospects over the marginal benefit of moving them up the ranks a little sooner. 

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Just now, dudacek said:

Like I said, JAGs at JAG prices. 

Do you think that Adams intended any of the expiring contracts on the Sabres this year to be anything other than one-year roster filler?

 

Yes.  I think he hoped some of these guys would be effective depth that could be here for more then this season.  I think that is why he wanted Bjork and his 2 years.  I think he hoped that Hagg and Butcher were young enough to possibly benefit from a fresh start here and become bargain pickups.  Caggiula was brought back as well.

Also Eakin, Bjork and Butcher aren’t JAGs at JAG prices.  

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@JohnC who said bring up JJP or Quinn on a permanent basis? I said Samuelsson, Murray and R2 should have been given a legit shot at permanent roster spots that they earned last season.  Instead KA blocked them through his JAG acquisitions, which is something he said he wouldn’t do.   R2 and Murray are older prospects with nothing left to prove in Rochester.  Samuelsson is younger but with nothing left to prove in the AHL either.  We need to find out if his skating is NHL level long term and leaving him in Roch while Hagg and Butcher skate in Buffalo is a waste. 
 

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8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Teams cannot survive on JAGs alone.  Also other then Hinostroza and Pysyk, which JAG is earning his dough?  Anderson is likely done for the season playing just 6 games.  Caggiula has 5 points in his 18 games and is gone for a minimum of a few more weeks. Also his advanced stats are down with Eakin and Bjork. He acquired Bjork from Boston in the Hall deal, he is on the payroll for this season and next and is probably our worst forward.  You complained  about a few years of Sheary's contract, what about 2.5 years of Bjork? His 4 pts in 25 games is very impressive for $1.6 mill.  Not only that but we gave up an effective 4th line center in Lazar to get Bjork in addition to trading Hall.  Hayden isn't an NHL player.  Murray outplayed him in camp and this season.  Hayden should be waived, so no he hasn't come close to earning his deal either.  Butcher, Eakin and Dell are a waste of 10% of our cap this season.  Hagg is giving us less then he gave the Flyers.  His -11 is the worst on the team and his other metrics are terrible as well.  I actually had high hopes for Hagg, but sadly he hasn't come close to delivering value on his $1.6 cap hit.

Spin it any way you want, but his JAGs from this season and last are terrible with the exception of Hinostroza and maybe Pysyk.  

Not only has he not found good players, he has only found 1 decent and maybe 1 other passable player.  Here again is his list of acquisitions who have played for us in the NHL.  Hall, Staal, Eakin, Bjork, Caggiula, Anderson, Dell, Subban, Tokarski, Reider, Sheahan, Tuch, Hagg, Hayden, Butcher, Irwin, Davidson, Hinostroza, Pysyk, Fogarty, Jankowski, and Wolanin. 

The sad part of this mess is that he promised not to block prospects with his acquisitions.  Somehow Murray, Samuelsson and R2 have spent time in Rochester because of this acquisitions of guys like Caggiula, Hayden and Butcher.  Had he just let the kids play instead of the vets, we'd probably have a better team.

Called that Hagg was terrible from the beginning.

While Adams may not have overpaid for anyone, the other side of the “NHL talent evaluation” coin, as you allude to here, is whether or not those acquired players have been given roles in the lineup equal to their talents. Obviously this has not been the case. 

Which brings us back to strategy, of course. 

 

31 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Like I said, JAGs at JAG prices. 

Do you think that Adams intended any of the expiring contracts on the Sabres this year to be anything other than one-year roster filler?

 

 

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1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Called that Hagg was terrible from the beginning.

While Adams may not have overpaid for anyone, the other side of the “NHL talent evaluation” coin, as you allude to here, is whether or not those acquired players have been given roles in the lineup equal to their talents. Obviously this has not been the case. 

Which brings us back to strategy, of course. 

 

You said that much better then I did.  

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12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Yes.  I think he hoped some of these guys would be effective depth that could be here for more then this season.  I think that is why he wanted Bjork and his 2 years.  I think he hoped that Hagg and Butcher were young enough to possibly benefit from a fresh start here and become bargain pickups.  Caggiula was brought back as well.

Also Eakin, Bjork and Butcher aren’t JAGs at JAG prices.  

Hoped, sure. Counted on, no way.

Probably pointless to argue what defines a JAG in a league that budgets nearly $3-4 million per roster space (23 players, $82 million cap), but it seems like the crux of this discussion is that I believe Adams regarded most of the players he has acquired as short-term roster filler and you don't.

I can't ignore how many players Adams has acquired who are on expiring deals. He's made a significant commitment to exactly two players: Tuch and Dahlin.

Everyone else has been either cheap.or short-term. Most of them have been both.

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12 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What results did that yield?  Caggiula returned and he signed Jankowski and Hayden upfront.  He brought in Anderson and Dell for goaltending and added Hagg and Butcher on the defense.  Which of these have made a positive impact this season? The best signings were Hinostroza and Pysyk and both have been ok, but not exactly guys one really hopes return next season.  

Did Karmanos and company help on the trades of Risto, Reinhart and Eichel?  Hopefully, but we have yet to see anything of impact from those deals so far at the NHL level.  

The truth is his talent evaluation at the NHL level is crap so far. 

It yielded the result of allowing Tage, Cozens, and Dahlin to grow and develop this season while also allowing Krebs, Quinn, Peterka, and Samuelsson to develop in the AHL further. Not all results are measured in losses and wins this season. 

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Im sorry but the idea that not having impacts at the NHL level right now is a big negative on Adams I have bad news for you. Tuch will be here in a few weeks so that will add something to the NHL roster but I am floored that there is any argument being leveled at Adams for bringing in Jags when we have at least 3 if not 4 young forwards that aren't NHL ready that will get moved up next year. What did you want him to do? Try an overpay UFA's? because Ufas ain't coming to this dumpster fire. This is a bridge year and the way to bridge it is to bring in the best character guys who are still decent at hockey you can so next year you can start bringing up your prospects without overpriced 30yr olds stacking your roster. 

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14 minutes ago, Thorny said:

While Adams may not have overpaid for anyone, the other side of the “NHL talent evaluation” coin, as you allude to here, is whether or not those acquired players have been given roles in the lineup equal to their talents. Obviously this has not been the case. 

Which brings us back to strategy, of course. 

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

You said that much better then I did.  

 

And I'm not arguing that. His roster building skills are showing in the standings.

Just pointing out that roster building and player evaluation are not the same thing.

Flipping Alex Nylander for Henri Jokiharju is excellent player evaluation. Running a D corps with Henri, Bogo, Risto, Miller and Montour is bad roster building.

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1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Adams didn't know but he likely had some reservations hence the lack of major trades.

Staal, to be honest was still, in theory, a great move. However, for whatever reason, Staal fell off a cliff at a far more drastic rate then anyone could of expected after his solid season and great playoffs the prior season. He threw up a Hail Mary to keep Eichel here, make the owners happy, and get the fans reinvested.

On paper their lineup looked solid

Hall - Eichel - Reinhart

Olofsson - Staal - Skinner

Girgs - Eakin - Thompson

etc. etc...  not perfect but had legitimate potential. In a way I also sense that he looked into goalies but between his cap constraints and the price via trade it was untenable. So his hope was for Ullmark to play 35 to 45 games, and Hutton or UPL to start the remaining 11 to 21 games with at very least passable stats.

 

Instead Eichel got hurt pre-season, Hutton's play actually got worse, Ullmark got hurt twice, we went through 6 goalies (a 7th on the bench) and ever perceivable worst case scenario played out with the acquisitions. Staal became old, Hall stopped trying after a short period of games, Eakin didn't even give replacement level play and Krueger, a noted inspirational speaker, completely lost the team. Not to mention one of the heart and soul players in Girgensons got hurt in the team scrimmage prior to the season.   

Wookie, You need to turn Your Sarcasm Detector on. 

I have had quite a few posts in this very thread all about  How Last Season was to appease Pegula and not making any long term commitments to have maximum flexibility moving forward. 

 

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6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

 

And I'm not arguing that. His roster building skills are showing in the standings.

Just pointing out that roster building and player evaluation are not the same thing.

Flipping Alex Nylander for Henri Jokiharju is excellent player evaluation. Running a D corps with Henri, Bogo, Risto, Miller and Montour is bad roster building.

Honestly I think last season reflects more on Adams roster building skills or potentially lack there of - we don’t really think he was trying to build a winning roster this year, right? My qualms with the approach this season are strategy based, mostly. 

Goaltending does reflect terribly on him, though, in a roster building sense. 

That appears to be his “thing”, much like Botterill and 2C. Until he solves it, he’s hampering his own efforts 

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13 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Honestly I think last season reflects more on Adams roster building skills or potentially lack there of - we don’t really think he was trying to build a winning roster this year, right? My qualms with the approach this season are strategy based, mostly. 

Goaltending does reflect terribly on him, though, in a roster building sense. 

That appears to be his “thing”, much like Botterill and 2C. Until he solves it, he’s hampering his own efforts 

I don't, but is seems @GASabresIUFAN might.

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12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

 

And I'm not arguing that. His roster building skills are showing in the standings.

Just pointing out that roster building and player evaluation are not the same thing.

Flipping Alex Nylander for Henri Jokiharju is excellent player evaluation. Running a D corps with Henri, Bogo, Risto, Miller and Montour is bad roster building.

KA’s player evaluation is also lacking.  Hayden vs Murray for example.  Bringing in Eakin, Bjork, Hayden, Butcher and Dell at all thinking they might be serviceable NHL players.  They aren’t and weren’t  KA when he acquired them.  

In two years all he has shown he is that he is a terrible evaluator of NHL players and has had terrible roster construction.   However he has proven to be an effective yes man to the Pegulas.  

Jot also signed his depth players to short term deals. 

So far the only things KA has accomplished so far is tanking the team and cutting spending.  The on ice product is no better in year two.  

The truth is this season is that KA purposefully tanked the team given the budget constraints from the Pegulas.  That’s not ok IMHO.  I don’t think it helps the franchise move forward or help build a winning culture.  It’s just another wasted season and more evidence to the players the losing is ok.  

Spin it as a transition year if you want.  Give KA a pass for his short term deals and keeping spots open for the kids next year. Hope that Tuch pulls a Drury and changes the culture with his personality.  I get it.  Hope springs eternal.  

However do you really have any confidence that KA can make the right decisions to supplement the young core and build a winning team?  I think all the evidence at this juncture points against that belief.  

 

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17 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I don't, but is seems @GASabresIUFAN might.

I have been an advocate of the youth movement for the last two seasons.  However, I have also advocated for better goaltending and for better defensive D for the last two seasons to properly support the youth movement.

I believed even with the kids up front, had KA found reasonable goaltending and a couple of veteran D first D (Psysk but better) this team would be competitive.  I thought the D first D would help the development of Dahlin and Bryson giving them confidence to open up their offensive games while helping to prevent scoring chances in our zone.  I hoped that decent goaltending would keep every mistake from ending up in our next giving the team a chance most nights.  

I thought and do think that a competent GM could have accomplished that mission even with our budget constraints.  However it meant making good decisions that KA isn’t capable of.  

Instead KA tanked the team. 

The sad part is I think had management adopted my approach, we’d have a decent to good team right now.  This team has shown the ability to score at and when they get decent goaltending to win or nearly so.  Instead of floundering and sinking to the bottom of the standings, the kids would be gaining confidence and we’d start moving toward that winning culture.  Oh well.

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