Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams did his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday and hit on many topics pertaining to his team.
Adams opened with a statement on captain Jack Eichel, and I want to bring you his full statement:
“We all want the same thing here when it comes to Jack Eichel. We want Jack Eichel to be healthy, to be able to play at the top of his game and to be one of the best players in the world like he’s proven he is.
"I want to back up a little bit with what ended up being Jack’s last game of the season. After that, Jack was quickly imaged. Our doctors diagnosed Jack with a herniated disk in his neck, discussed the next steps from there, being conservative care with rehab treatment with the hopes that he would be able to go through that process and return to play this season.
"Not long after that, Jack asked to get a second opinion, which is within his rights, and I totally support, and as an organization, we support it. Anytime a player in any medical situation wants to get another opinion, I think it’s great. The more information, the better, and that’s what he did.
"A point I want to drive home is through this process, from what I’ve laid out to where we are today, there has been constant communication (In his press conference, Eichel disputes that. He said they’ve spoken twice) from myself to Jack, our organization to Jack’s agents, doctors to Jack, doctors to doctors. Some of the communication has been formal, where we’ve all been together, some of it's been phone calls, some of it's been Zoom, some of it's been one off, but it has been constant and continuous communication from the beginning with all parties.
"What was agreed upon by the doctors, the experts was conservative rehab approach, and our doctors are highly regarded in the medical industry. They are exceptional at what they do, and all of the doctors involved agreed on the conservative approach. Typically in this situation and in their experience, there’s a high probability that through a conservative rehab approach, you are able to avoid surgery and you are able to comeback and perform at the top of your game.
"What I want to make sure you all understand is we’re still in that window. What was discussed was a 12-week mark, which takes us to the end of May, early June timeframe, and that’s where we still are at. So we’re still in that conservative rehab process, and I think you can all appreciate that everyone wants to avoid any type of a surgery, and a conservative approach is the best approach with the hopes of avoiding any type of surgery.
"It’s been speculated and discussed from Jack’s camp about potentially having a surgery that’s never been done on a National Hockey League player before. Our doctors aren’t comfortable with that, but I think we all are in a position where we want the same thing and hope that when we re-image this in the timeline that I laid out, Jack will have made steps and strides to be able to be in a position where we’re in a better spot.”
Adams said that since the last time he spoke with the media, Eichel has not asked for a trade. But when I asked if he could be looking to move Eichel, Sam Reinhart or any other of the longtime Sabres that have done nothing but suffer through very bad losing, Adams wouldn't say no.
“We have to be willing as an organization to look at any and all scenarios to help us improve, and I’ve been pretty consistent with that message," he explained. "I think for where we’re at, I’d expect that, and the players would expect that, and the fans would expect that. So of course.
“But where we have to be careful is I understand what’s gone on here for the last 10 years. I understand the fan base, the frustration and it’s real. It happened, but we can’t wake up and dwell on that, and we can’t look at players and say this player can stay and this player can’t stay because of how long they’ve been here. It’s more about are you part of the solution, and do you want to be here? Do you want to be part of something great, and do you want to make this fan base proud or don’t you? If the answer is no, then we’ll make those decisions.”
When asked if he wanted to stay in Buffalo on Monday, Eichel said he has a lot to think about this offseason, and wouldn’t say yes or no.
Eichel said on Monday there’s a disconnect between him and Adams. The Sabres general manager disagrees.
“The disconnect, in my mind, is from our team to our fan base," Adams said. "It’s in our city and making the people of this community proud, and I understand. I understand what that means, and I think it’s something that I think about every day.
“I’m focused on solutions, and I’m focused on the proper conversations to point this franchise in the right direction.”
Of course, the focus was on Eichel, Reinhart, Ristolainen and maybe Jake McCabe, but Adams wanted to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“What I do want to tell you is the young players yesterday, I was energized. I was excited," Adams said. "We have a tremendous young core of players that truly care about this team and this city, and I was extremely impressed with how honest and mature this group was. So the past, we can’t live there. We have to think about what’s gone on, then we have to think about how we get better and move forward.”
When Adams spoke before he fired Ralph Krueger, he said the last thing he wants to hear from players and coaches are excuses.
“Losing should make people angry," Adams said Wednesday. "We’ve talked about excuses before, and you’ll never hear that from me. But there’s a difference between excuses and facts and reality. We finished in last place... it's unacceptable, and we’re going to fix it, so how do you fix it?
“When you win hockey games and build things properly and do things the right way, the league gets small, meaning people talk and people see what’s going on, and they want to be part of something special. I understand that we have to do that, and we have to get to that point where players are lining up to play here, because this organization is rolling and you’re going to get a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup every year. That’s what players want.”
Thanks to the power given to Krueger, the Sabres made some very bad signings that included Cody Eakin, Tobi Rieder, Taylor Hall and Matt Irwin.
“There was a deep dive that went on not long after I was in this job on where was our roster at. What could we do to potentially put ourselves in position to have success ? That’s why decisions were made with let's try to build this on a respectful short-term basis to make sure we’re not putting ourselves in a bad spot long-term, which we did," Adams said. "Quite frankly, some of those decisions were made with the right process for the right reason, and you could argue that it didn’t work out. We ended the season in last place, so how do we move forward?"
In case you missed Adams' end-of-season conference call, you can listen to it in its entirety below:
