Although the Buffalo Sabres are in the best position they have seen themselves in over a decade, Kevyn Adams must keep building the prospects pool.
Oftentimes, you only get to be on the power play for a few minutes, but Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has a chance to stay on the advantage for quite some time. The key? Never stop building the prospects pool.
If one keeps the pool stocked fresh with talent, it lowers the likelihood that you would ever have to rebuild. Because let’s face it, although Adams has done an outstanding job with signing key players to long-term deals, the fact is, he can’t do that with everyone.
And sure, you could theoretically trade for established talent, which means trading away prospects and draft picks. To an extent, this will, and should happen to potentially trade for, say, a top four defenseman. But Adams must also refrain from making the mistakes that the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Pittsburgh Penguins have made, and one the Toronto Maple Leafs are making.
Buffalo Sabres prospects pool must remain stocked regardless of team’s success
Therefore, trade when necessary, and it’s something you might see this season. Yet at the same time, draft the best possible players on your board, let them play professionally in their home country, in the AHL, or let them choose to keep seeing reps either in college or their respective junior leagues – if under age 20 for the latter.
To do this, Adams needs to strategically hold onto as many draft picks as he can. And with the system in place, it’s likely this will be the route he will take, as opposed to wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline and as a result, depleting the pool.
With the roster and lineup looking the way it currently does, chances are, Adams won’t need to pull off such trades in the first place. It’s okay to land a trade for that final puzzle piece, but to make the same mistake the Maple Leafs just made, where a potential turnover will be taking place north of the border in the not-so-distant future? Let that be a lesson.
So by all means, trade for a top player when necessary. But don’t unload the prospects pool for 30 somethings or even those in their late 20s only to shorten your overall window for success. Hold on to your picks, keep the pool laden with talent, so when the inevitable happens and those players not part of the overall core move on, you can continually reload, and avoid the dreaded rebuild.
If anyone deserves to go a decade (or longer) without rebuilding, it’s the Buffalo Sabres. And if Adams is wise, he can do just that.
Source: Jiri Kulich adds to goal streak, Joe Cecconi scores to give Amerks 2-0 series lead by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com