Adams - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres will have chance to take special prospect with first draft pick

The Buffalo Sabres have just 6.5% odds to nab the top pick in tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery, so they likely won’t win the right to select winger Alexis Lafreniere, the ultra-talented prospect who has been projected to go first overall for two years.

Lafreniere is such a dynamic threat he began dominating the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as a 16-year-old rookie, scoring a career-high 42 goals in only 60 games for Rimouski Oceanic, ... Read the full article

Sabres name Kenmore’s Jeremiah Crowe director of scouting

The Buffalo Sabres today named Jeremiah Crowe their new director of scouting and elevated Jason Nightingale to assistant director of scouting.

Nightingale also serves as director of analytics.

The moves, some of Kevyn Adams’ first as general manager, illustrate the “leaner” version of the Sabres owner Terry Pegula mentioned when the team fired GM Jason Botterill, amateur scouting director Ryan Jankowski and 20 other members of its hockey department June 16.

Most teams ... Read the full article

GM Kevyn Adams has long to-do list as he begins trying to transform Sabres

Right now, Kevyn Adams has a precious commodity as he begins his unlikely tenure as Buffalo Sabres general manager: time.

Being a rookie GM is difficult enough for front office veterans. Adams, 45, was hired to replace Jason Botterill last week having never worked in an NHL hockey department.

Adams, of course, knows the hockey world and his bosses, Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, well. The Clarence native played 10 seasons in the NHL ... Read the full article

Sabres fired Amerks coach Chris Taylor with no explanation

The call lasted less than a minute. Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams simply informed Chris Taylor he was being fired as Rochester Americans coach, offering no details into the sudden dismissal.

Taylor was stunned. Following a successful three-year run in which the Amerks reestablished themselves as an AHL heavyweight, the Sabres let him go Tuesday with no explanation.

“It was very short, fast, why they felt that they wanted a clean slate,” Taylor told ... Read the full article

Sabres’ decision to fire Amerks coach Chris Taylor looks foolish

In 2017, former general manager Jason Botterill and his assistant, Randy Sexton, took an unusual first step in rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres’ struggling AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Barely a year after the Sabres’ previous regime had let Chris Taylor go as an assistant coach from the Amerks, Botterill and Sexton, who also served as Rochester’s GM, rehired him as head coach.

The move made sense. Taylor, who was fired again Tuesday, spent his ... Read the full article

Disconnect with Pegulas costs Jason Botterill job as Sabres GM

If the NHL could’ve held its draft as scheduled next week, Jason Botterill would likely still be employed as the Buffalo Sabres’ general manager. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to postpone the annual event until the fall.

The extra time gave Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula an opportunity to discuss and plan the team’s future – “Really start digging in,” Kim Pegula said on a Zoom call Tuesday to discuss Botterill’s firing ... Read the full article

Sabres fire Amerks coach Chris Taylor and assistants

In his three years as Rochester Americans coach, Chris Taylor helped re-energize the Buffalo Sabres’ moribund AHL affiliate.

For the first time in years, the Amerks morphed into a consistent winner. Players, meanwhile, regularly raved about the affable Taylor and his staff.

When the Sabres needed an assistant to fill in behind the bench early this season, they elevated Taylor, who is often talked about as a future NHL coach.

But on Tuesday, hours after ... Read the full article

After firing Jason Botterill, Sabres will go forward as ‘leaner’ operation

Sabres fire GM Jason Botterill, name Kevyn Adams replacement

In a stunning move this morning, the Buffalo Sabres fired general manager Jason Botterill after three seasons and replaced him with Kevyn Adams, who had been serving as the team’s senior vice president of business administration.

“This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the general manager of the Sabres,” Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula said in a statement. “This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during ... Read the full article

Jr. Sabres growing under Kevyn Adams’ watch at HarborCenter

BUFFALO – When the Sabres dismissed Kevyn Adams in 2013 following a short run as an assistant coach, he said he kept asking himself the same question.

“How do I make the biggest difference over this next chapter of my career?” Adams would say.

Not surprisingly, Adams had options to stay in hockey. Adams, whose playing days ended in 2008, earned loads of respect carving out an 11-year NHL career, mostly as a fourth-liner with ... Read the full article