Pimlach

There is a big difference announcing you are striving to be "playoff caliber", putting up signs and showing commitment versus your GM verbally guaranteeing the playoffs next season at his end of the season Presser. These two things are not the same. Ask Adams if his expectations for next year are playoffs and he will say yes. Ask him how he can guarantee they make the playoffs, or what will he do to guarantee it, and he will react as he did to Warrow. This issue is on the journalist, who was given a reset on the question, only to ask a worse question by editorializing that it was a wasted season. I saw the difference between polished, prepared, and professional (Adams) and ill-prepared and awkward (Warrow) on display.

Adams gave a very positive shout out to Bales in his Presser.

Yes, I have interviewed for many jobs, and lived in several cities, states and countries. I did not have an agent, a father in the business, and 4 years to figure it out either. You are talking about taking a risk. A calculated risk. My experience is that people that take a few calculated risks usually end up better for it. There is nothing wrong with keeping options open and evaluating alternatives. All I am saying is that at every step of the way he has not shown he wants to play for the Sabres. He actions, or inactions, indicate that he will go somewhere else come 15 August. He will get paid. He will get paid enough to not have to live in the city that he plays for year round. Most players do not.

Marcus Foligno

Maybe, but if true he is not very bright. If he bases it on hockey, then his agent can tell him every team's roster and prospect pool. They should have an honest assessment of where he stands in the prospect pool. Together they can evaluate his odds to make a certain NHL and in what time frame. That could have been done prior to the start of his last college season and then refined and updated throughout the season by his agent. If he bases it on non-hockey variables then he should know what he likes and his priorities. A college student should be clever enough to research those things. He has been to Buffalo several times, he knows the GM and the coaches and some of the other prospects and players.

I have to ask. Are you his neighbor of Kevyn, a friend, or a former teacher of his at Clarence High? You seem to know know a lot about his personal traits and leadership style. He has a plan and he appears to keep things on track. He has made a few mistakes along the way but that is understandable. The jury is still out on the sterling success part. There is a lot of winning that needs to happen before I can go that far.

Words from my mother.

I don’t think so. If he does sign with Buffalo, it will be because it was his best option of the team’s interested in him. If he wanted to be here, he would have signed already. He could settle for Buffalo.

There is a lot more big hits, late hits, fighting and rough stuff in these early playoff games. More than I can recall seeing in awhile.

I doubt that he will be in camp without a signed contract. There is a risk of injury that might be a concern.

The jumping the gun is your last two sentences that I bolded. Karmanos won't get the Pittsburgh job because the Sabres rebuild is a success. It is too soon to conclude that. He might get the job for many reasons, some of which includes his work in Buffalo, but the Sabres rebuild is still a work in progress.

Not expendable, but less of a problem in the near term if they can get Novikov in Rochester next season. They really need a defenseman that they call up without having to deal with waivers. I think the 2024 late 2nd rounder is a safety net as well. The ROR trade was to include the St Louis #1, which unfortunately turned out to be the last pick of round 1. Now it could be the last pick of round 2, but 5 years after the fact. Ryan Johnson has never felt like a good pick to me. I am not surprised he is apprehensive about signing. There can't be too many teams that need defensemen as badly as the Sabres do but possibly the presence of Dahlin, Power, and Samuelsson make him feel like the top 4 is not a possibility. If that is the case, good riddance.

I always enjoy your perspectuve @PASabreFan so I decided to replay the interview. I am not sure that Warrow tried to troll anyone or anything. Adams might think otherwise. Warrow is just a clumsy guy that asked a legitimate question in a clumsy way. Asking this particular GM to "guarantee" the payoffs next year was not a smart question. He should know by now who he is interviewing. The very first question (maybe by Benini) stated that upon talking to the players the universal theme is playoffs next year, and the bar should now be higher in the future - and Adams agreed with it and enthusiastically provided commentary on it. Done. Along comes Warrow. He means to ask a legitimate question, something like "what is the next step for this team and how do you take it" would have been good. Instead he throws in words like guarantee and assurance. Adams got a bit defensive and he lost some composure, so he asked for a re-do on the question. Warrow comes back even worse, asking if the season was a "lost opportunity", and Adams comes back with "I cannot disagree with you more". Adams then completely turns it around, and his response is basically more time to foot stomp his opening message - which ends with long term sustained success as the goal. Classic maneuver by Adams, in public speaking whenever a question gets uncomfortable you take things back to the key messages that you want out there, and you reinforce those key messages and end the question positively. What I saw and heard is a really smart guy (Adams) that knows how to speak publicly and is confident in what he says. In contrast, Warrow is mediocre in his role. I don't think Warrow was trolling. His coverage of the Buffalo Sports teams and his writing is for The AP and mostly ok. He certainly lacks polish and after that presser we can question his preparation too.

You are really jumping the gun here. Karmanos is well known in Pittsburgh for his 6 years in the their organization, 3 as AGM. He has been a key part of a Sabres rebuild but if he gets the Pittsburgh GM job his prior work there will also be a big factor. His home is still there too. Sure, we can feel good about the direction of the Sabres rebuild, but it’s still a work in progress with the biggest challenges still ahead.

Switched to Kracken vs Avalanche Seattle continues their tradition of silly colors in their uniforms. Blah.

Toronto fans acting poorly. Leave the players in the box alone.

McCabe finally makes the playoffs. That’s good.

Holy smoke Jeannot and Schenn in a 70’s style fight. Old man Schenn did a great job against a monster.

Watching Leaves and Bolts and thinking about how we would measure up. Can’t wait until next year when we get in the playoffs. We look so young compared to these two teams. If Levi becomes a star the Sabres will be a force once again.

Just put on the Leaves game. Ugh. Boo. Yuck. They have Bogo.

Bold prediction. I sure hope your wrong about the next step. Assuming the moves you outline are true, if everyone just stays reasonably healthy, and if growth in the core and in the youth continues, and if Levi plays at the level we saw at the end of the season, and if UPL is a decent backup, then I think we finish with 100+ points and make the playoffs. Most of the and if's are still there even if make a few more trades as.

I finally got to listen to Adams Presser. My thoughts are below: Lots of discussions here at SabresSpace about Adams (and Donny) not talking about playoffs next year. The clumsy way that Warrow asked that question, using the word "guarantee", sent Adams into a defensive posture. He is not going to guarantee that and he should not. Warrow once again shows his mediocrity as a journalist with the way he posed that question, even though he later tried to soften it with other words like assurance and confidence, Adams was already into spinning the question to avoid making life hard on everyone (including the players) with such a guarantee. The next biggest discussion was the multiple conversations on bringing in outside help via trade. Adams did not rule it out but he did stress growth from within, player development, trust and confidence in his core, yada yada. Will he bring in at least one defensive player for the top 4? I think he may, but no commitment to that. He took time to single out Joki in a positive manner, so he may be reading too much SabreSpace. (humor intended) Ryan Johnson - Adams is not stressing on him. Whatever his position is, he is not wavering and he seems ok with getting a 2024 late 2nd pick in place of Johnson as a prospect. He really wants players that want to be here, and that show it. Goaltending - He made a big vote of confidence for Bales and positive comments for UPL. There was a good question on committing to Levi and then maybe finding out during the season that they need another veteran goalie after the fact. Adams said that every player is different, implying that Levi may not need AHL games, it makes me think he is going with Levi and UPL (or Comrie) next season. Kyle and Zemgus - if they want to stay here they can. I do not know where the room for Savioe, Kulich and Rousek is coming from unless other forwards are moved in trades. Kulich's age may keep him in AHL unless his play makes it impossible to do so. Glad he mentioned the Russian prospects and getting them into the program. Dahlin is obsessed (at times) with being the best. I like that. Adams is going to be the same Adams next year as this year. I see very few moves in the off-season, hopefully the few moves he does make are truly impactful and the right ones. I see a guy with a long term plan that will not react to short term issues. I think he really wants the playoffs next season, he just won't guarantee it.

Could it be he didn't do much to display his talent. He played for a sinking Phil Housley, and then for an incompetent Ralph Krueger. He sure did not play with passion for Buffalo, but he was ok. He is 29 now and in his prime for a defenseman. Montour is another in a long line of players that benefited from getting out of Buffalo. That is finally changing.

is this true? Who did he bring?