The Sabres need to hand Kevyn Adams an ultimatum: Find a top six forward or get out

The Buffalo Sabres are 0-3-0, and to be frank, they’re not a horrible hockey team. Yeah, when you’re outscored 10 to three, you look like a bad group, and many onlookers from the outside may even think you’re terrible. 

But be rest assured that the Sabres didn’t play a bad game last night, winning 58.3 percent of their faceoffs, laying 28 body checks, and stealing the puck eight times. Buffalo outshot Los Angeles 33 to 23 overall, and 27 to 11 throughout the first two periods. 

Yet once again, they found a way to lose, and once again, for the third time in as many games, skated away with just one goal. And no, it wasn’t the one goal they needed to win the game, as I implied yesterday. 

Instead, this game was yet another example of why Kevyn Adams has gone from one of the more respected architects in how to at least rebuild an organization to one of the most incompetent general managers in the league. 

Kevyn Adams deserves to be on the hot seat, and for good reason

I don’t know how many times I’m going to talk about the need for a top six forward, but I feel like I’ve done this a few times already, and we’re only three games into 2024-25. I’m no insider, so I can’t tell you whether Adams is working the phones, but if he’s not, it needs to happen today because the team he currently has is on pace to score fewer goals than the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks, who, by the way, put up four last night in a single game. 

Once again, the Sabres are making fringe goaltenders look good if the early stages of the season are anything to go by. Yes, they’re more physical, and I can at least thank fate for that, but unless Adams finally figures out he needs one more established scorer in this lineup, the Blue and Gold have a one-way ticket to becoming the NHL’s least relevant team. 

If this persists, Adams has to go. Yeah, he built the prospects pool, and he seemingly set the team up for success if the 2022-23 season showed us anything. Getting that close to a playoff berth should have enticed a blockbuster trade, but it hasn’t, and at this rate, I have no reason to believe that it will. 

So, the Sabres need to give Adams an ultimatum: Either find a top six forward by November 1st, or resign. And if you don’t resign, we’re handing you your walking papers, and you can leave team headquarters immediately.