It was an eventful Friday for Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, to say the least.
Leading up to picking first overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Adams made the first major move of the offseason earlier in the day by sending defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for the 14th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, a 2023 second round pick and defenseman Robert Hägg.
With the first overall pick already in hand, the Sabres had two picks in the first half of the first round of the draft, and used them to address different areas in their prospect pool. Buffalo selected University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power at the top of the class, and then Swedish winger Isak Rosén at 14th overall.
Adams zeroed in on Power and raved about his professionalism at such a young age.
"Owen was extremely impressive," Adams said following Friday's first round. "[I like] the way he handles himself on the ice and all parts of his game. [He's good] with the puck, his poise, the defensive reads his makes, his great stick, his hockey IQ... this is a great day for our organization."
Adams and the Sabres front office weren't done making moves. Multiple reports surfaced at the conclusion of the first round of Friday's draft that the Sabres were working towards trading forward Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers. Neither team has yet to confirm the trade.
Adams did not want to comment on the rumored reports on Reinhart, but he did touch on the trade rumors surrounding Jack Eichel. He said he was unaware that he's back on the ice skating again.
In making all of those moves, Adams is attempting to get the ship steered in the right direction. He said the team will continue to make moves with that purpose in mind.
"We're going to continue to look in every possible way to get our organization going in the right direction," Adams said. "We're open to everything. We need to step forward and if we're going to do something with a player, it has to be of value to our organization going forward."
You can listen to Adams' entire press conference below:
***Photo: Micheline Michaelina (@MiMiV4682)
