The Buffalo Sabres find themselves approaching their window of long-term success, and the time has come to add talent from the outside.
This time last year, I knew that Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams wasn’t making any major moves. Sure, I wrote about potential signings in the event he threw us a curveball, but there was zero anticipation he’d do anything major.
In free agency, he signed Ilya Lyubushkin, Eric Comrie, and fringe NHL talent in the defensive rotation. But circumstances were also different, as Adams rightfully allocated much of his cap space toward extending his current talent, something he did during the offseason, before the regular season, and during the season.
While he still has a few puzzle pieces to ink to long-term deals like Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and potentially Casey Mittelstadt, with the window of opportunity open for the Sabres for the first time in about a thousand years, don’t be surprised when he makes a blockbuster signing in the defensive rotation.
Buffalo Sabres general manager will bring a big name to the Queen City
While my latest roster projection doesn’t reflect it mainly because I’m name dropping no one until myself and the rest of the NHL universe know for sure who will become free agents and who won’t, you will see Adams bring in a top four defenseman to the Blue and Gold.
For those of you who may ask what took Adams so long to add viable talent from the outside, the answer should be simple: This is the correct way to build an NHL team. Lay your foundation with players you draft and those you already have in the prospects pool, ink the key contributors to long-term agreements, then go out and add talent from the outside.
This is the best way to build not only team chemistry, but long-term success since your youngest players are growing up through the system together. That chemistry they establish will only grow, and it also calls for the final puzzle piece (or two) to make a smoother transition into the system as opposed to going crazy with signings and trades, which is what the Detroit Red Wings tried (and failed) last offseason.
Any new signing won’t come at the expense of Dahlin, Power, and likely Mittelstadt. So while you should anticipate a bigger name coming to the Buffalo Sabres, Adams will sign them while ensuring there is still enough cap space to extend a few more key players to long-term deals. In the end, everyone wins, and it brings the Sabres one step closer to playing more than 82 games this time next season.
Source: Sabres’ Don Granato and Kevyn Adams on Devon Levi expectations, RFA contracts and more by Matthew Fairburn, TheAthletic.com