Kevyn Adams Q&A with STH Holders

[French Collection]

Just now, Zamboni said:

There’s also the “I’m not gonna show all my cards to STH’ers and media and have their big mouths broadcast my true plans and ruin everything for the organization” route.

Yeah, he can’t say he is going out to get a Saros and a Hanifin. If he gets Halak and Stanley, people will freak out.

[Contempt]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Sediment?

Apparently KA was giving all the good dirt.

[JoeSchmoe]

I agree with his slow and long approach of keeping a large stable of prospects and not giving them up for veterans even though it's frustrating in the moment.

To win the cup, you have to get lucky... Plain and simple. There's too many good teams to build a guaranteed winner.

The key is you need a team that can compete over many, many years. The more years you're in it, the better chance you have that your team gets hot at the right time, and not be hit with injuries, etc.

When you give up prospects and go all in for just a short window... You better get lucky in those 3 or 4 years. If not, the cap will catch up to you and you're done.

 

[LGR4GM]

46 minutes ago, OverPowerYou said:

Are there any season ticket holders here? I’m interested in becoming one. Is it worth it? 

My best buddy is and I go to a bunch of games with him. We've talked about in the future splitting the tickets and where he sits it is def worth it. I think it comes down to if you want to go to 20-41 games a year and where you want to sit. I personally think there are spots in that arena that I wouldn't pay to be in. 

[LGR4GM]

7 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

I agree with his slow and long approach of keeping a large stable of prospects and not giving them up for veterans even though it's frustrating in the moment.

To win the cup, you have to get lucky... Plain and simple. There's too many good teams to build a guaranteed winner.

The key is you need a team that can compete over many, many years. The more years you're in it, the better chance you have that your team gets hot at the right time, and not be hit with injuries, etc.

When you give up prospects and go all in for just a short window... You better get lucky in those 3 or 4 years. If not, the cap will catch up to you and you're done.

 

No team in the NHL drafts well enough to only sit on their prospects, even 1st rounders. At least 1 of Rosen, Östlund, Savoie, and Kulich will bust to some degree. Also the draft doesn't allow you to fill holes as easily as trades and ufa. Trading prospects that might or might not matter to your team in 3 years so you can be good during the ensuing 3 years doesn't shorten your window, it opens one. 

[Doohickie]

24 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

There’s also the “I’m not gonna show all my cards to STH’ers and media and have their big mouths broadcast my true plans and ruin everything for the organization” route.

While being frank and open with the press and the public, Kevyn does know when to reveal information and when to protect it.

[thewookie1]

All I see here is more of his typical talk about staying patient and building the "right" way. I don't think he means waiting for 2025-26 to go to the playoff however. I take it as him stating he doesn't want to make moves that will actively be a detriment to the team in 25-26. For instance throwing 8mil per year at a 30+ year old for 7 years. The player may help us now but would, by year 3, be actively hurting the team in some regard. 

In some ways its akin to trying to cause a snowball to roll down hill until it becomes practically unstoppable. There is a point somewhere on the "graph" in which the number of prospects likely to make the NHL becomes strong enough to take from both via trade and for replacements without exhausting the supply Year 1. 

 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, OverPowerYou said:

Are there any season ticket holders here? I’m interested in becoming one. Is it worth it? 

 

[French Collection]

A lot of good things about bringing over Neuchev, Novikov, Poltapov and Östlund. The Sabres develop them, get a better look at them and so do the other teams looking for prospects.

[Randall Flagg]

37 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

There’s also the “I’m not gonna show all my cards to STH’ers and media and have their big mouths broadcast my true plans and ruin everything for the organization” route.

Kevyn doesn't have a super secret plan, we aren't asking about the players he's interested in

I have a message draft saved, ready to tell my buddy that I'm in on seasons, kevyn can make me push it, I want to push it

Edited March 29, 2023 by Randall Flagg

[Randall Flagg]

41 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

We get it. He has a plan, you don't like it.

You don't see the improvement of the past two years as being meaningful enough, and you don't see it continuing without a course correction.

He says patience, you say ***** off, I want it now.

Nothing new here.

I'm hard on Kevyn because I believe he can make this franchise great 

Now, too

Edited March 29, 2023 by Randall Flagg

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Sediment?

They polished off very old bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and Adams poured second glass a bit heavy.  

[Buffalonill]

1 hour ago, Zamboni said:

There’s also the “I’m not gonna show all my cards to STH’ers and media and have their big mouths broadcast my true plans and ruin everything for the organization” route.

 He said he wasn't going to do anything at the deadline To jeopardize His plan .

 And he stuck to his word 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Buffalonill

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

His constant emphasis on "3-5 years down the line" and being careful not to jeopardize this is so bizarre. 

There is an ocean of middle ground between "right now matters" and "sign four 32 year old free agents to 5+ year deals as well as trading away half the (massive, far too large to keep a bunch of them in the organization into their prime years) prospect pool for the same type of guy"

It would take outlandish general-managing, stuff you just don't see in the real world, to make the 2023 summer "dangeous" to the "future"

Tell me next year matters Kevyn. You might get a new STHer. Tell me it's playoffs or bust, and you will make the obvious moves to ensure that happens. 

Thank you.  Adding a few veteran pieces also helps the current core who are young and carrying a big load.  I feel bad seeing their struggles intermixed with the good play and knowing there are a few moves that could help.  I feel even worse hearing boos in the KBC.  The players have a problem when playing at home and do not have much of an intimate relationship with the crowd - even though they want to - they cant seem to be consistent enough at home to get there.   

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Pimlach

[pi2000]

Do you mortgage the future just to make the playoffs next year, or continue the draft, develop and retain approach building a sustainable pipeline of prospects?

I'm not sure making the neccessary moves to make the playoffe next year and building a sustainable pipeline are mutually exclusive.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Meh, nothing bizarre about it at all. The bold and his "very calculated" are speaking to the same thing.

He's just saying he's not going to be acquiring Bo Horvats. There are only so many long-term high-salary slots on the salary cap chart, and those are being allocated to  the Thompsons, Cozens and Dahlins, with space reserved for eventually adding the Quinns and the Powers and the Levis.

It's not new, it's not difficult to understand and it doesn't preclude him from making the team better now.

Good news if true.  If there are players that can be acquired now that won't cost a lot or block a prospect then he should upgrade the defense, the bottom 6, and the goaltending.   

I was not in on Horvat, or Meir/Chyckrun either - just improve on the bottom 3 or 4 players and help the young core.  

 

[Zamboni]

1 hour ago, OverPowerYou said:

Are there any season ticket holders here? I’m interested in becoming one. Is it worth it? 

I am a long time season-ticket holder… If you are interested in buying a 10 pack or even a 20 pack from me for next season… PM me. I just charge what I pay. I make no profit on the tickets. Dead center ice, two seats, 300 level.

[That Aud Smell]

19 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Adding a few veteran pieces also helps the current core who are young and carrying a big load.

Yep.

And I generally agree with @Randall Flagg's disappointment with the apparent tone of GMKA's remarks. It may be that GMKA's plan is, in fact, substantially in-line with what Flagg is (and others are also) hoping for. But the messaging is off, if that's the case. And I'm not even sure it is the case.

[Brawndo]

1 minute ago, Zamboni said:

I am a long time season-ticket holder… If you are interested in buying a 10 pack or even a 20 pack from me for next season… PM me. I just charge what I pay. I make no profit on the tickets. Dead center ice, two seats, 300 level.

I split tickets in Section 320, they have to be pretty close 

[Pimlach]

13 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Do you mortgage the future just to make the playoffs next year, or continue the draft, develop and retain approach building a sustainable pipeline of prospects?

I'm not sure making the neccessary moves to make the playoffe next year and building a sustainable pipeline are mutually exclusive.

It isn't for Boston, Tampa, and clubs like that.  

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Randall Flagg said:

Saying it another way, I think there is a spectrum of focusing solely on the future, to going all-in today. I don't think Kevyn is saying the same thing as me, I think that I want him to be at the center point of "next season matters, a LOT, and we also cannot meaningfully dent our prospect pool with a realistically good offseason, so go have one"

But he's way to the left and cautioning as if going that far to the right is the same thing as going far to the right of the center point, and throwing it all away. Nothing about how he handled this current season, or speaks about next season, relative to how he spoke this year, tells me he's where he should he on the spectrum 

Next year is as critical a year for the Sabres as it is for the Bills

Can we be in agreement that, for Adams, this season was largely about building culture and giving the kids responsibility to see how they respond?

Maybe he agrees next year is critical, but what he is saying is that this year told him that his “core” is already here and he doesn’t need to sacrifice major assets to add a core piece.

I guess what I’m saying is I haven’t seen you (or too many others) screaming for big changes. Everyone wants to add a good goalie, a top 4 defenceman and some physical strength and defensive acumen.

What makes you think Adams doesn’t see the same things and is unwilling to address them?

At the start of this year, he had no idea Dahlin Cozens Tuch and Thompson were the studs they have become. He had no idea how Comrie, Luukkonen, Samuelson, Power, Bryson, Mittelstadt, Quinn, Krebs and Peterka would respond to being leaned on over a full season.

TLDR: last summer he didn’t really know what he had, this summer he has a much better idea.

Seems to me he has already started the process of addressing its holes with the concepts of Stillman and Greenway. Personally, I’ve seen reason to hope that can and will continue into the summer without chasing Bo Horvats.

Seems to me your issues amount to: “he hasn’t done those things yet, and he hasn’t promised me he will.”

Guess we’ll see.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by dudacek

[Derrico]

8 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I am a long time season-ticket holder… If you are interested in buying a 10 pack or even a 20 pack from me for next season… PM me. I just charge what I pay. I make no profit on the tickets. Dead center ice, two seats, 300 level.

I’ll keep this in mind.  Thanks.

I see the Sabres offer half seasons now.  Didn’t know that.

41 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I'm hard on Kevyn because I believe he can make this franchise great 

Now, too

Where have you been Randall??  Man I’ve missed ur posting.  

[Crusader1969]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Love to see they are trying to lock up Power this Summer and bring Östlund over. 
 

Good to hear about the Russians. Neuchev and Novikov are both unsigned after April 30th. 
 

I would bring Novikov to Rochester and see if a CHL Team would take Neuchev in the import draft and give Him a year in juniors 

Weren’t / aren’t Russians banned from the import draft ?  Thinking they were last year but I’m old and could be confused 🫤 

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

This is disappointing as it seems to eliminate someone like Orlov.  They seem to believe in vets like Anderson and KO but for reasons unknown won’t get a veteran leader for the defense.  

I hope this does mean that players still in their prime are still on the table, guys like Saros or Demko who are 27.  

I’m thinking you can scratch demko off your list 

Canucks are building around him, Hughes and EP 

 

[Crusader1969]

3 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

If this team doesn't acquire some real veteran leadership, specifically on defence, they're spinning their wheels.

Yes, cause we haven’t seen improvement in Dahlin and Power has looked lost out there   🤦🏼‍♂️

[Crusader1969]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Agreed. You can't project 3-5 years from now that well so if you see signs your team can make the jump, you owe it to them to do things that can help you now, not 3-5 years from now when you think they will be ready. If this team isn't consciously setting the bar at playoffs next season we have a problem. 

Maybe he was saying 3 to 5 to be contender for the ultimate goal. ?