Kevyn Adams Speaks

[Pimlach]

55 minutes ago, Cranky old man said:

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  His taking credit for the Sabre succes is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  His taking credit for the Sabre succes is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  His taking credit for the Sabre succes is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  KA taking credit for the Sabre success is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

[Nacho Libre]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

I said at the time that it was the Trevor Kuntar contract that was the final straw.

We seem to be made to suffer talk about Sheevyn. It's our lot in life. I could be another voice of reason in that it was the leadership and overall performance of 6 years, but I say the real impact was this:

Ruff was hired by Pegula and had to be convinced (by his own admission in one of those Sabres videos) to take the job. Adams wanted Appert and ensured Appert was part of the staff. This is well-reported and documented.

You cannot convince me that Appert would've requested/demanded the changes that Ruff with his 700+ career wins made to the roster. Ruff came in and demanded speed in the bottom 6 -- give up a Savoie, give up a 2nd, no matter --, buy out Skinner, and get a guy maybe even an overpay for someone like a Zucker. Those are Ruff-roster shopping list moves. 

If Adams/Appert had been in charge it would've been the continued "Wait for Power" approach. Savoie, Skinner, Cozens, Bryson. They're likely all still here.

You could argue Adams' best transaction was to trade for Doan (and Kesselring), but that wasn't even his decision. That was forced upon him by JJP refusing to sign an RFA extension.

May the force be with you 

[Cranky old man]

1 hour ago, Sabrejak said:

 

I chose to read the third one and ignored the others.

 

 

 

I’m not just cranky, I’m old, so these things, crop up. Thank Christ yous are here to keep me humble. 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Cranky old man said:

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  His taking credit for the Sabre succes is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

 

Curious you think of our players as bricks. As if roster construction is a matter of off-loading a pallet of players. 

[K-9]

3 hours ago, Cranky old man said:

The unanswered question: what is it about Kevyn Adams firing that the Buffalo Sabres players found so inspiring?  His taking credit for the Sabre succes is like a guy who brought a load of bricks to a job site, and then 12 months later says to everybody look at the beautiful brick house I built. 

 

Given what we’ve learned from the players and Lindy about the December player leadership meeting with Lindy, themselves, and subsequently taking better control of the locker room, there’s reason to believe that KA leaving had little to no impact on the turn around in the least and that his exit and the team’s ascendency was merely coincidental. 

[Cranky old man]

41 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Curious you think of our players as bricks. As if roster construction is a matter of off-loading a pallet of players. 

You’ve skipped over the point of the parable and seized on literal details,  which your robot mind finds curious. Huh. 

[PromoTheRobot]

57 minutes ago, Cranky old man said:

You’ve skipped over the point of the parable and seized on literal details,  which your robot mind finds curious. Huh. 

Maybe if you posted it 4 times I would have gotten it.

[PerreaultForever]

18 hours ago, Cascade Youth said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7295050/2026/05/21/kevyn-adams-exclusive-sabres-vindication/

He sounds chipper as ever, not bitter at all, but slowly and methodically taking credit for the current season's success.  I say that without (much) judgment, just passing along for folks to read and draw their own conclusions.  But he basically says "We're right on schedule."  Regrets the Palm Trees debacle.  Compares himself (subtly) to Jarmo - goes out of his way to point out that Jarmo was unceremoniously fired and learned from it, the implication being that Kevyn is on that same trajectory.

I mean sure, why not. JBot got another job so he now thinks he can get one too. I wouldn't be surprised if someone hires him as an assistant GM and lets him focus on drafting to start if he can convince them all those picks we made were his idea and not Forton's. 

[Brawndo]

TBH one of the biggest surprises for me was that Adams not attempting to control the narrative around the Eichel Situation prior to the trade. The Sabres already decreased reputation around the league took a big hit when the national perspective became Jack wanted a trade as the Sabres would not allow him to get his preferred surgery. And Adam’s not anything to counter this narrative.

 

The Sabres could’ve released a statement stating that Jack had asked for a trade prior to the injury and as an organization, they felt it was best to allow Eichel’s new team to make the decision on the type of surgery to be performed and they were working to find a trade partner and trade package suitable for all parties involved.

Instead media, fans and players around the league believed it was all the Sabres and Pegula blocking Jack thereby fueling the organizations poor reputation around the league at that time 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

TBH one of the biggest surprises for me was that Adams not attempting to control the narrative around the Eichel Situation prior to the trade. The Sabres already decreased reputation around the league took a big hit when the national perspective became Jack wanted a trade as the Sabres would not allow him to get his preferred surgery. And Adam’s not anything to counter this narrative.

 

The Sabres could’ve released a statement stating that Jack had asked for a trade prior to the injury and as an organization, they felt it was best to allow Eichel’s new team to make the decision on the type of surgery to be performed and they were working to find a trade partner and trade package suitable for all parties involved.

Instead media, fans and players around the league believed it was all the Sabres and Pegula blocking Jack thereby fueling the organizations poor reputation around the league at that time 

Maybe it was simply a matter of him not realizing he could and he should?

And not being surrounded by anyone who would have realized that?

The biggest curse of inexperience is not knowing what you don’t know and the fact he was surrounded by a skeleton crew with the same flaw only exacerbated that.

[Nacho Libre]

15 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Curious you think of our players as bricks. As if roster construction is a matter of off-loading a pallet of players. 

A good argument for why it was never “Adams’ team” just because he was sitting in the office while said pallets were shipped in. The team didn’t become the one we know and love until his severe influence was removed (far too late coming). Pretty sad for a dude that was hired on the mandate of culture: he ended up the ultimate culture scourge 

Sad. 

[Nacho Libre]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Maybe it was simply a matter of him not realizing he could and he should?

And not being surrounded by anyone who would have realized that?

The biggest curse of inexperience is not knowing what you don’t know and the fact he was surrounded by a skeleton crew with the same flaw only exacerbated that.

He knew, are we already forgetting? “We want players who want to be here.” That sentence’s origins are purely Eichel.

He was just bad at it 

Edited May 22 by Nacho Libre

[DarthEbriate]

10 minutes ago, Nacho Libre said:

A good argument for why it was never “Adams’ team” just because he was sitting in the office while said pallets were shipped in. The team didn’t become the one we know and love until his severe influence was removed (far too late coming). Pretty sad for a dude that was hired on the mandate of culture: he ended up the ultimate culture scourge 

Sad. 

7 minutes ago, Nacho Libre said:

He knew, are we already forgetting? “We want players who want to be here.” That sentence’s origins are purely Eichel.

He was just bad at it 

It's ironic... he could save others from death, but not himself. was the very reason Eichwalker asked for a trade because of the decision he made to re-tank/re-build around a new core rather than to offer extensions to Reinhart, Ullmark, Montour, etc. 

[JP51]

17 hours ago, Cranky old man said:

I’m not just cranky, I’m old, so these things, crop up. Thank Christ yous are here to keep me humble. 

Hey man it happens to us all... you get that delay and it doesnt seem like it goes thru so you hit submit again... and before you know it... Boom you have the same sentence 4 times... then you rush to delete the repetition...  been there before... probably will be there again LOL 🤣

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, Brawndo said:

TBH one of the biggest surprises for me was that Adams not attempting to control the narrative around the Eichel Situation prior to the trade. The Sabres already decreased reputation around the league took a big hit when the national perspective became Jack wanted a trade as the Sabres would not allow him to get his preferred surgery. And Adam’s not anything to counter this narrative.

 

The Sabres could’ve released a statement stating that Jack had asked for a trade prior to the injury and as an organization, they felt it was best to allow Eichel’s new team to make the decision on the type of surgery to be performed and they were working to find a trade partner and trade package suitable for all parties involved.

Instead media, fans and players around the league believed it was all the Sabres and Pegula blocking Jack thereby fueling the organizations poor reputation around the league at that time 

Why dredge that up? The entire narrative was driven by Jack's agent and spread like manure by reporters who rely on agents for scoops. You aren't going to change any minds now.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Nacho Libre said:

A good argument for why it was never “Adams’ team” just because he was sitting in the office while said pallets were shipped in. The team didn’t become the one we know and love until his severe influence was removed (far too late coming). Pretty sad for a dude that was hired on the mandate of culture: he ended up the ultimate culture scourge 

Sad. 

That happened because the owner does not know what he doesn't know.  

I think he was hired on the mandate of cutting costs for the near future.

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Why dredge that up? The entire narrative was driven by Jack's agent and spread like manure by reporters who rely on agents for scoops. You aren't going to change any minds now.

You go to great lengths to defend Adams.   The fact is that writers will spread manure from both sides.  Adams and Terry looked bad, and wrong, on the Eichel situation.   There is no other take.  

Why was the team so bad for 5+ years under Adams?  What is your opinion on why?  

[PromoTheRobot]

22 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

You go to great lengths to defend Adams.   The fact is that writers will spread manure from both sides.  Adams and Terry looked bad, and wrong, on the Eichel situation.   There is no other take.  

Why was the team so bad for 5+ years under Adams?  What is your opinion on why?  

I go to great lengths to fight false narratives. 

The Sabres looked bad because the team already had a bad rep. So it was easy for Jack's agent to make it look like Pegula and Adams were ogres over the surgery issue. Jack wanted out before his neck injury and after signing his $80MM contract (which oddly he had no problem signing, go figure.)

Now you have a player who doesn't want to play for you AND he wants you to allow him what was at the time experimental surgery that no other NHL player had gotten. Your team surgeon, Andrew Cappuccino, who was one of the developers of that artificial disc replacement surgery, advises the team against it. At the time, cervical fusion was the recommended course of action.

So what are your options at that point? If you allow Jack his surgery and it fails, you are on the hook for $50MM. If he has surgery and and it works what team is going to give you any value for a player that just had an experimental procedure, unless he keeps playing for you to show he's fine, and both parties wanted to move on by then? The only answer was to let his new team assume the risk. Which they did and everyone lived happily ever after.

Now you can still hate the owner and not care about the risk he was under, and that's your right. But there were real risks, And that being Adams' first issue to deal with he did incredibly well getting what he got, considering the pressure he was under from this fan base to get something done ASAP, and the bad press around the team. (That trade for Tuch, Krebs, and a pick who became Östlund, went on to be the cornerstone of this turnaround.)

I know you won't agree with me.

Edited May 22 by PromoTheRobot

[Nacho Libre]

53 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

That happened because the owner does not know what he doesn't know.  

I think he was hired on the mandate of cutting costs for the near future.

It’s true, one of the GM’s key jobs as many have said is filling in those gaps and convincing the owner of the proper tact. 

something Adams was always particularly terrible at 

Edited May 22 by Nacho Libre

[JohnC]

6 hours ago, Brawndo said:

TBH one of the biggest surprises for me was that Adams not attempting to control the narrative around the Eichel Situation prior to the trade. The Sabres already decreased reputation around the league took a big hit when the national perspective became Jack wanted a trade as the Sabres would not allow him to get his preferred surgery. And Adam’s not anything to counter this narrative.

 

The Sabres could’ve released a statement stating that Jack had asked for a trade prior to the injury and as an organization, they felt it was best to allow Eichel’s new team to make the decision on the type of surgery to be performed and they were working to find a trade partner and trade package suitable for all parties involved.

Instead media, fans and players around the league believed it was all the Sabres and Pegula blocking Jack thereby fueling the organizations poor reputation around the league at that time 

The narrative isn't the big issue for me as the overall dysfunctional situation was. Jack wanted out because he didn't want to go through another rebuild. He was tired of being in a losing situation. Who can blame him? He was dealt because the owner and organization decided to trade him. They didn't have to do so because Jack was contractually bound to the team. With respect to the surgery issue, in hindsight, Jack was right in preferring to have that particular surgery because it fixed the problem and got him back on the ice sooner than if he would have had an alternative surgery. The point that I'm stressing here is that the Sabres had control of the Jack situation. The decision was to deal away the disgruntled player. Although they decided to trade him, they weren't required to do so. 

I don't blame the player for wanting out. And let's not forget that Reinhart could have been signed long term when he was an RFA. The organization decided not to. So Reinhart acting in his own interest went the free agent route and got dealt to a smarter run organization. Jack now is one of the best players in the league and Reinhart is an upper echelon player. Both went to better run organizations, and both have their names etched on the Cup. 

And it should be noted that it is well known that Buffalo is one of the most listed teams, if not the most listed team, on players' NTCs. My point is that the issue of organizational reputations has little to do with poor public relations as it does with its actual dysfunction. Hopefully, that has changed with our recent success.

A good unresolvable topic of discussion is whether the Sabres would have been better off building around players such as Jack and Reinhart or cleaning the slate and starting over in roster building. My opinion is that if the Jack and Reinhart situations were better handled, this team would have been relevant/competive sooner. The past is the past. I like where this franchise is situation now. But when you constantly shoot yourself in the foot, it takes more time to heal before moving on. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I go to great lengths to fight false narratives. 

The Sabres looked bad because the team already had a bad rep. So it was easy for Jack's agent to make it look like Pegula and Adams were ogres over the surgery issue. Jack wanted out before his neck injury and after signing his $80MM contract (which oddly he had no problem signing, go figure.)

Now you have a player who doesn't want to play for you AND he wants you to allow him what was at the time experimental surgery that no other NHL player had gotten. Your team surgeon, Andrew Cappuccino, who was one of the developers of that artificial disc replacement surgery, advises the team against it. At the time, cervical fusion was the recommended course of action.

So what are your options at that point? If you allow Jack his surgery and it fails, you are on the hook for $50MM. If he has surgery and and it works what team is going to give you any value for a player that just had an experimental procedure, unless he keeps playing for you to show he's fine, and both parties wanted to move on by then? The only answer was to let his new team assume the risk. Which they did and everyone lived happily ever after.

Now you can still hate the owner and not care about the risk he was under, and that's your right. But there were real risks, And that being Adams' first issue to deal with he did incredibly well getting what he got, considering the pressure he was under from this fan base to get something done ASAP, and the bad press around the team. (That trade for Tuch, Krebs, and a pick who became Östlund, went on to be the cornerstone of this turnaround.)

I know you won't agree with me.

Please check you own narratives. Need I remind you that: 

1.  The Sabres looked really bad to the rest of league because of the Pegula EEE policies that Botterill would not sign up for.  Firing Boterill one week after he was given a public vote of confidence by Kim - "fans don't know as much about hockey as we do".    The hiring of Adams took the league by surprise.  Terry used the injury as much as Eichel did.  Eichel did not want to stay for the upcoming $hit show.   Which is what led to Eichel, Reinhart, Uhlmark, and Montour all leaving.   Do not forget that the Pegula's fired a considerable portion of the rank and file employees, gutted the FO, let the best players go, and barely hit the cap floor for 2 straight seasons.  For what?   A yacht?  Even now Jarmo is looking at adding more pieces to the FO which he called "deficient".   So not allowing Eichel to get the surgery was just one part of the bigger clown show that was going on back then. The injury was the vehicle, but the EEE crap from Terry was the reason.  

2.  As for Tuch, Krebs and Östlund being the cornerstones of the turnaround, I think not.  Tuch was a truly valuable player.  Krebs is useful bottom 6 player that can jump up in the lineup and help for awhile.  Östlund has 71 NHL games over two seasons, he looks very good but we are still getting to know him.    Follow the money to find the cornerstones - Dahlin, Thompson, and Power, all signed long term,  they are the building blocks (with Benson now emerging).  

I don't want to get further down this rabbit hole.  We have to all admit that Adams made some good drafts and some good trades.  He also failed to do enough to fix the roster in 5+ years.  I do think Terry called a lot of the shots, especially in Adams first few years.   Where Adams failed as the top guy was his inability to inspire, be an accountable  leader, and instill a winning culture. 

[Cranky old man]

9 hours ago, JP51 said:

Hey man it happens to us all... you get that delay and it doesnt seem like it goes thru so you hit submit again... and before you know it... Boom you have the same sentence 4 times... then you rush to delete the repetition...  been there before... probably will be there again LOL 🤣

I appreciate the understanding JP, it went just as you said. Before I can complete a single edit, I’m Jimmy two times. Fahk me. 

[PromoTheRobot]

6 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Please check you own narratives. Need I remind you that: 

1.  The Sabres looked really bad to the rest of league because of the Pegula EEE policies that Botterill would not sign up for.  Firing Boterill one week after he was given a public vote of confidence by Kim - "fans don't know as much about hockey as we do".    The hiring of Adams took the league by surprise.  Terry used the injury as much as Eichel did.  Eichel did not want to stay for the upcoming $hit show.   Which is what led to Eichel, Reinhart, Uhlmark, and Montour all leaving.   Do not forget that the Pegula's fired a considerable portion of the rank and file employees, gutted the FO, let the best players go, and barely hit the cap floor for 2 straight seasons.  For what?   A yacht?  Even now Jarmo is looking at adding more pieces to the FO which he called "deficient".   So not allowing Eichel to get the surgery was just one part of the bigger clown show that was going on back then. The injury was the vehicle, but the EEE crap from Terry was the reason.  

2.  As for Tuch, Krebs and Östlund being the cornerstones of the turnaround, I think not.  Tuch was a truly valuable player.  Krebs is useful bottom 6 player that can jump up in the lineup and help for awhile.  Östlund has 71 NHL games over two seasons, he looks very good but we are still getting to know him.    Follow the money to find the cornerstones - Dahlin, Thompson, and Power, all signed long term,  they are the building blocks (with Benson now emerging).  

I don't want to get further down this rabbit hole.  We have to all admit that Adams made some good drafts and some good trades.  He also failed to do enough to fix the roster in 5+ years.  I do think Terry called a lot of the shots, especially in Adams first few years.   Where Adams failed as the top guy was his inability to inspire, be an accountable  leader, and instill a winning culture. 

I don't believe Jack ever wanted to be in Buffalo. But he did want to get paid. Once that happened, he was gonzo.

As for not wanting to stick around for another rebuild, he was one of the reasons we needed a rebuild. 

Not impressed by Krebs or Östlund, huh? I'll take them over Jack anytime.

Edited May 23 by PromoTheRobot

[Rasmus_]

The team rallied around you getting fired.  But, yes you assembled the majority of this team.  You have some credibility in it, at the same time.  I don't miss you, don't want you back.  Seeya. 

[PromoTheRobot]

3 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

The team rallied around you getting fired.  But, yes you assembled the majority of this team.  You have some credibility in it, at the same time.  I don't miss you, don't want you back.  Seeya. 

It's a good thing Kevyn got fired. If the Sabres did this while he was still GM some people would be suicidal. 😂