BUFFALO – In the weeks ahead of the trade deadline, Sabres general manger Kevyn Adams said owner Terry Pegula gave him the same message: What do we need to do to make this team better?
“Everything we should be thinking about is we need to improve, and what are those decisions?” Adams said Pegula told him. “And, Kevyn, come up with answers.”
That last part, of course, is important. While the Sabres rank last in the Eastern Conference and will miss the playoffs for the fifth time under Adams (and the 14th straight season), Pegula hasn’t lost faith in the Clarence native.
Allowing him to trade center Dylan Cozens, a 24-year-old once regarded as one of the Sabres’ core pieces, to the Ottawa Senators on Friday illustrates Pegula’s strong belief in Adams’ vision.
Pegula, having worked closely with him outside of the hockey department prior to naming him GM in 2020, enjoys a special relationship with Adams, who has had a longer run than his predecessors.
Adams told reporters Friday in Florida following the deadline he and Pegula have recently had some “honest” conversations.
“If I’ve made a mistake, I tell him I’ve made a mistake,” Adams said after making three trades and signing winger Jason Zucker to a contract extension earlier in the day. “When I believe I have a solution, I’m going to tell him I have a solution. I certainly am keeping him informed of every possible scenario of what we’re going to do, and ultimately, he’s empowered me to make the final decision. And that’s what I did today.
“I took in all the information, listened, made sure he was in the loop, and when push came to shove, it’s my call. But that’s what I love about Terry, because we do have that relationship where there’s true honesty. I accept responsibility for where we are in the standings. It’s on me.”
The Sabres, who host superstar Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers tonight at KeyBank Center, have lost six straight games (0-5-1).
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The Sabres had Sunday off.
Adam’s needs to go. Fourteen years of crap. Players rightly think the management of this team is a disaster. Nobody wants to play here and it’s not due to taxes or the lack of palm trees. Who has a very public shitstorm with their franchise player? This team. And the list could go on and on. Fire Adam’s. If you could find an NHL experienced GM and president of hockey operations throw a bag of money at them. But maybe like the players, nobody qualified wants to work for this team.
After Adams 1st year as GM he had to trade Eichel, Risto, Rhino etc resulting in another rebuild and the youngest roster in the NHL the last 4 years. The Sabres actually got younger this season. Ruff did not want Skinner on this team. The Sabres bought him out. Skinner was overpaid by at least $3Mil per. I do believe Adams tried to make some trades in the offseason to acquire another 20+ goal scorer. With Cozens taking steps back & Skinner gone the Sabres only have 3 players scoring more than 20+ goals this season. Good NHL teams needs at least 5. Norris has 20 goals with Ottawa this season. Zucker still has a chance to score 20 goals before the end of this season. Ostlund is finding his scoring touch in Rochester and Helenius fell into their lap in the last draft. Patience. The Sabres are still the youngest team in hockey. Kulich is finding his place in the NHL and Power is only 22yo.
So it appears Adams “plan” is to keep the Sabres in last place forever.
Adams is the most pathetic “GM” in the NHL. Only thing worse for us Sabres fans is the fact Pegula is even more clueless in deciding to keep the clown as GM. When will the misery end?????