While the Buffalo Bills were busy beating arguably the best team in the NFL, their cousins, the Buffalo Sabres, were proving once again why they’re arguably the worst team in the NHL. And we can point to one man in particular as to why that is: General Manager Kevyn Adams.
In short, the headline of this article says it all, but there’s been a lot of talk lately about how incompetent Adams has been as a general manager. And yeah, his plan was brilliant following the 2022-23 season, and he had Sabres fans everywhere thinking this team was finally heading toward the playoffs.
Then, he did next to nothing in 2023 to improve the team as opposed to signing a couple of defensemen, one aging, might I add, and one whose ideal place in the league is with limited minutes. He also re-signed a pair of vets who were past their primes in Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons.
Oh, and Adams was so obsessed with adding a new forward to the lineup, he didn’t hesitate with rushing Zach Benson into the NHL. Hey, playing Benson early may have been a brilliant idea if the Sabres were still mired in mediocrity as their ceiling, as was the case following the 2020-21 season. But that wasn’t true following 2022-23.
After the infamous “step back” last season, Adams needed to make some serious moves. So, he went out and got Lindy Ruff to replace Don Granato, signed Jason Zucker, traded for Ryan McLeod, and beefed up the bottom six.
It’s not a question: Kevyn Adams must resign as Buffalo Sabres general manager
And to Adams’ credit, Zucker has been a good player, and McLeod has been better than advertised. Additions to the bottom six meant a more physical Sabres team, and let’s not forget about the late-season trade that brought Bowen Byram to town.
These were all solid moves, but the Sabres weren’t returning to relevance unless they got one more top-six player who could score, score, and score at will. They needed someone like a Tage Thompson, but on the wing, and it never happened.
We all knew it needed to happen if the Sabres wanted to seriously compete with the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tampa Bay Lightning. But it didn’t, and at that point, you could have said Adams waved the white flag on the season.
But wait, it got even better. Instead of taking ownership for failing to bring in a surefire scorer this summer or even at some point early in the year, Adams made excuses. That alone told me he was conceding the season, and that the Sabres were going to end the year with a 14th straight campaign with no playoffs.
Listen, if you’re going to make excuses because you can’t sell the city to a player, then you’re not the right man for this job. So, Kevyn Adams, you need to resign right now and stop falling short of expectations. Good executives either bring in the players they need or if they don’t, they take ownership and keep trying until they get who they need.
You didn’t do that, and now, your Sabres are on a 10-game losing streak. This embarrassment of a season, Mr. Adams, falls directly on your shoulders.