Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - There's been plenty of chatter surrounding the future of Kevyn Adams as general manager of the Sabres, and one NHL insider says there's definitely substance to what's happening in Buffalo.
In the latest episode of "32 Thoughts", Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman says there's "definitely noise" surrounding Adams' future as the general manager in Buffalo, and there should be more clarity surrounding that situation coming in the near future.
"The Sabres played 8 o'clock Eastern time on Sunday in Seattle, they won [their] third game in-a-row. So actually a road trip that started pretty poorly - they lost in [Philadelphia], they lost in Winnipeg, they lost in Calgary - they beat Edmonton, they finally won on the road and regulation in Vancouver, then they beat Seattle to win three in-a-row to end it. But it's a late night. You're flying home, overnight, so I don't know if we'll get clarity Monday or do they wait until Tuesday? They don't play again until Thursday. But there's definitely noise here. There's no question about that," said Friedman on Monday's episode with co-host Kyle Bukauskas. "There's subtle ways that teams put out fires when they're happening, and that's not really happening here."
Through 32 games this season, the Sabres currently sit at .500 in the Eastern Conference standings with a 14-14-4 record and 32 points. However, that has them tied for last place in the conference with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Since taking over as general manager of the Sabres in 2020, the team has gone 178-196-42 and have failed to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Buffalo's win percentage of .478 has them ranked 26th overall in the NHL in that span.
After Buffalo just missed out on the playoffs in the 2022-23 season by one point, the Sabres have regressed significantly, going 89-90-17 and putting up a win percentage of .497. Only five other franchises have finished with worse production in that span.
Friedman says in the time he's known Adams from his playing days in the NHL, he's enjoyed covering him because he was very thoughtful and was always good at explaining things as they were. When Adams became the general manager in Buffalo, he wanted to be more at arm's length.
However, from what he's gathered recently, Friedman believes the mood in Buffalo has changed quite a bit.
"I heard even when they were winning on this road trip, his mood wasn't great. Either he knew that story was coming, or he knows that there's something going on behind the scenes," Friedman said.
"I just wonder if the people around that organization know that something's coming. What it is, we'll see. I could be totally wrong, but everything that's going on there doesn't add up right now."
This past offseason saw the Sabres created a new position in the front office to be involved with Adams in all aspects of the hockey department, hiring former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen as a senior advisor.
Kekalainen served as the Blue Jackets' general manager from 2013 until 2024, building a Columbus team that went 410-362-97 in 869 regular-season games. During his time in Columbus, the Blue Jackets were able to qualify for the playoffs five times.
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Friedman has heard that, at least early in the season, he tried to stay out of the way and be more of a behind the scenes type of presence within the organization.
"When you go in there as sort of like, 'Oh, he's the next guy,' that's tough, because everyone's looking at you like, 'He's here to take over.' And that's not an easy way to come in," Friedman noted. "I heard he tried to legitimately just watch, see, not make judgment. I think as time developed and time evolved, he started to offer more opinions and look into what was going on. I think that problem of the too many cooks pre-dated Jarmo. I don't think this is fair to solely blame this or that on him."
The Sabres have off from practice on Monday before returning to the ice on Tuesday back in Buffalo. Their next game action is set for Thursday night against the Flyers at 7:30 p.m.
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