Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – The first question on many people’s minds for Kevyn Adams on Wednesday is what’s wrong with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen? Last week Adams signed veteran goalie Alexandar Georgiev. Adams said,
“He just started having some pain, and he was not able to push off, which is something he needs to do, so we did imaging and that’s clean, so he’s just trying to do some rehab and figure out how to get him over the hump, he’s in that day-to-day mode, it could be a little longer, but it’s encouraging in the last few days.”
As far as signing a 29-year-old goalie who hasn’t played well at all in his last three seasons going 53-44-9 with a 3.31 goals against and .889 save percentage, Adams said,
“I think it’s really important to have internal competition and to protect ourselves and this for me is an area where you have a goaltender in (Alexandar) Georgiev that’s played over 300 games in this league (303), he’s played playoff hockey, he’s at a great age, he’s been around the league for awhile that was where that we thought could come in and provide internal competition.”
When Lindy Ruff was an assistant coach with the New York Rangers, Georgiev started his career there after the Rangers signed him as a free agent in July of 2017. The Russian netminder went 58-48-11 backing up Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers were a good team, especially defensively so Georgiev had a goals against of 2.94 and a save percentage of .908. Ruff said,
“I had him when he was young and he’s proven that he’s a good quality goaltender.
“I think he’s got something to prove. I had several long conversations with him before we got into bringing him into camp and I think his head is in the right place and we needed protection and he’ll give us that.”
Adams said Luukkonen may not be on the ice Thursday.
Jordan Greenway had a setback in his injury rehab and was forced to have a second surgery in July. Adams said it’s possible he could be ready by opening night.
Alex Tuch is nursing a minor injury and may miss a few days of camp. Speaking of Tuch, he’s been eligible for a contract extension since July 1. Adams has said three different times that they told Tuch what he means to them and that he’s a priority. Adams has also said that Tuch has told him that he wants to be back.
It seems like these extensions are taking longer and longer around the league. Connor McDavid in Edmonton and Jack Eichel in Vegas are both eligible for extensions and haven’t gotten them yet. As for Tuch, Adams said,
“We’ve had good conversations with the Bartlett’s (Tuch’s agency) this summer and these things take time and we’re going to work through it and it’s a priority for sure.”
If this drags on, it could become a distraction as the season goes on. Adams said,
“It’s a matter of working through something that makes sense for both sides,
“I’m going to continue to talk to his agents in the coming days and have some meetings lined up, so I’m not going to put a deadline on it, but he knows he’s a priority and we’ve just got to get it done.”
Adams is entering his sixth season as the Sabres General Manager. During his tenure the Sabres are 25th in the NHL and are only better than the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference. As far as if there’s pressure on him this season after a 14-year team playoff drought he said,
“I could stand up here all day and I could explain exactly why we’ve made moves or what I’m excited about and it really doesn’t matter, we need to win and I’m fully aware of that and I’m excited about that because I believe in this group.”
Ruff made it simple,
“Talk is cheap, just win games.”
Adams said it’s OK for him and the players to talk about the playoff drought. He said they need to raise their standard and he said that’s been very clearly stressed to the players.
Ruff raised some eyebrows by bringing back the same coaching staff. He said,
“I wanted continuity, second, I did explore the opportunity to try to improve the staff. I looked at last year, two new coaches coming in in myself and Seth Appert and the continuity I want to carry from last year into this year knowing that all of us have to be better.
“Seth knows this group better, I know this group better. Marty is the guy that’s been involved with the defense and there’s several areas where we can improve and I believe in this group, I do. We spend endless hours, and we’re going to continue to improve. Last year it was not knowing the players, I really feel I have a better handle on these players. I will admit right now, I didn’t have a good enough handle on the players.
“I was optimistic where some guys would be last year and I was wrong.”
In New Jersey, Ruff had a retreat for the players at the end of camp and he’s going to do it again with the Sabres. Adams said there will be team bonding and some honest conversations.
When JJ Peterka was traded to the Utah Mammoth, 27 goals went out the door with him. Months ago Adams was asked how to replace those goals and he spoke about Jack Quinn and Zach Benson. Those two combined for 25 goals last season, so I doubt they’re going to add 27 goals to those totals. Last season Buffalo was 10th in the NHL with 265 goals. That was just two fewer than the seventh place teams the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Blue Jackets. On Wednesday Adams said,
“We’ve done a pretty good job in terms of putting the puck in the net. To me it’s less about who’s replacing the goals and more about how are we not giving up as many.”
I’ve always felt Adams has rushed prospects to the NHL and it cost him. I felt that ended with Jiri Kulich and Devon Levi who have spent significant time in Rochester growing and improving. Now, with the next set of prospects on the way in Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund and Radim Mrtka, has his philosophy changed? He doesn’t think it has,
“I don’t know if it’s a change, when I look at other than Zach Benson and Owen Power who was a No. 1 pick, every other prospect we’ve had has come up through Rochester (Dylan Cozens didn't) and they told us when they were ready, so I don’t know if it’s a philosophy change, where I think it’s different is I think we have better depth.
“We have competition at all positions, we have depth where the young players are going to need to take someone’s job and I really like the pipeline we have.”
The Sabres were 29th in the league allowing 287 goals last season. Only the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks were worse. Improving that is a must and Ruff understands that,
“It’s a lot of ways. Our guys have had a good summer, it’s understanding what our team needs have to be. It’s a little bit of structural work that we’ve done as a coaching staff on putting our self in a better place. We look at some of the bodies we brought in, we’re going to have a healthy Norris, the two defensemen (Michael Kesselring and Conor Timmins) (Justin) Danforth, (Josh) Doan and the one-on-one puck compete will help us in that area also.”
Last season Buffalo hardly had a training camp as they had to leave for Czechia to play the first two regular season games. Ruff never got a chance to know his players or install his ideas,
“The full camp is going to be real important, where we’re going to just stay in one place.”
The Sabres take the ice in Harborcenter Thursday morning at 9:00.