The three Adams threads are annoying and we can have a discussion about him in one thread.

[LGR4GM]

Hey everyone, if you wanna be mad at adams for anything, go for it. I'm not policing you. Have at it. He's def not been perfect and could do more. But guess what, you don't need to post that in every ***** thread every time you post. 

So what's Adams failed out?

[GASabresIUFAN]

One word.  Goaltending.

 

[Derrico]

25 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

So what's Adams failed out?

The easy low hanging fruit is goaltending.   

I'm as optimistic as any about Levi but history shows rookie goaltenders rarely put up good numbers in their first season.  Pair that with the tire fire we had last year and Adams is playing with fire imo.  So much invested in this young core and its borderline stunning that yet again Adams fails to substantially upgrade goaltending.  I hope its not our achilles heel but its jumping off the page as an obvious concern.

[dudacek]

I am skeptical that Eric Johnston and Conor Clifton are enough to fix the defence and I really hope that both Adams and I are right about Devon Levi. I certainly would have liked to see him acquire a better insurance policy in net and a more certain top 4 defenceman.

I also think Adams has done a tremendous job fixing the culture, installing hope for the franchise, building a cohesive hockey department, and accumulating a fine collection of young talent, and that the Sabres are on the verge of being successful, but I guess we need another thread for that.

Edited August 6, 2023 by dudacek

[SwampD]

Yep. This is my last visit to this thread.

We get it. Goaltending. Even though he has drafted/picked up/traded for several, including one of the best prospects in the league at the position. All to no avail, yet.

But because he didn't go to the magical, mythical land where all the spare starting veteran goalies grow and pluck one off the branch, he is a failure.

[dudacek]

So have it, why do you like the guy and why has the recent progress of the team given you hope?

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm on vacation.

[Thorner]

- He was right about the culture needing a major shake up. (I was also wrong about this ftr). This alone is a pretty significant factor to his credit. It’s resulted in a franchise that, while I wouldn’t proclaim to necessarily be “set up for sustained success”, undoubtedly looks stabilized, which is a significant thing. Of vital importance. It would be exceptionally disappointing if this apparent stability was ever squandered one day, regardless of if KA has moved on. The stability should be a lasting credit to his name.

- the jump from the season ending in ‘22 to the one ending in ‘23 represents one half of the journey to bonafide playoff mainstay. I know the raw points gained would indicate a greater leap than half, but sample size needs to be a consideration when “mainstay’ is used and also because I believe the last points are hardest to get: and the most meaningful. 

- I’m on the fence re: his use of them as currency but by early/medium returns he’s a good drafter of prospects / assembled a good draft team (just as impressive)

-He seems to do quite well in the trades he does make: regardless of how crucial the deal. I’d say I could stand to see him make more, but I suppose that’s the other thread 

 

[mphs mike]

Very simply, a stated plan that makes sense given the state of the franchise when he took over. It was a joke. He decided he’d get players who wanted to be here. He did and there has been steady, incremental progress since. The progress has occurred both in the nhl and ahl.

I don’t agree with everything he’s done/not done, but he likely disagree with some of my professional decisions.

[PerreaultForever]

I'm still iffy on Adams. I thought a tear down was necessary and he did that, so he gets kudos on that, but otherwise he's only done 2 things (or 3 depending on how you look at it) that I really like and a few that I hate so I'm 50/50.

I don't give him great kudos for the tear down cause those players were likely to get back assets no matter who the GM was. Vegas wanted Eichel bad so getting Tuch back as part of the deal was a no brainer to any GM who pays any attention at all. They were good trades, but no way to know if they were Adams wins or just what was possible at the time. 

The 2 (or 3) things are signing Tage and Cozens long term for what turns out to be good value by NHL standards. Solid decisions it seems.

The other thing is getting Clifton, a guy I had targeted as best value out there and a perfect fit. 

But, he's botched goaltending so far (Levi pending)and imo he really hasn't done enough in terms of free agency.

As for drafting, like most GMs for pathetically bad teams it's hard to get them all wrong and you should get good players back. How many lower picks stick one day will determine how good or bad he is at that. Still remains to be seen. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

One word.  Goaltending.

 

This. and this again. 

[Dr. Who]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I'm still iffy on Adams. I thought a tear down was necessary and he did that, so he gets kudos on that, but otherwise he's only done 2 things (or 3 depending on how you look at it) that I really like and a few that I hate so I'm 50/50.

I don't give him great kudos for the tear down cause those players were likely to get back assets no matter who the GM was. Vegas wanted Eichel bad so getting Tuch back as part of the deal was a no brainer to any GM who pays any attention at all. They were good trades, but no way to know if they were Adams wins or just what was possible at the time. 

The 2 (or 3) things are signing Tage and Cozens long term for what turns out to be good value by NHL standards. Solid decisions it seems.

The other thing is getting Clifton, a guy I had targeted as best value out there and a perfect fit. 

But, he's botched goaltending so far (Levi pending)and imo he really hasn't done enough in terms of free agency.

As for drafting, like most GMs for pathetically bad teams it's hard to get them all wrong and you should get good players back. How many lower picks stick one day will determine how good or bad he is at that. Still remains to be seen. 

I feel like you are struggling with the concept of these threads. OTOH, you've given voice to ambivalence with a low hum of perduring disgruntlement in an intelligent manner. OTOH, you've failed to grasp the polar-dichotomy of point-counterpoint represented by two diverse threads of this particular nature. In reality, you want to occupy an ambiguous quantum state between two universal polarities, which places you high on the Heisenberg scale with a relatively strong undercurrent of Schrödinger syndrome.

[Buffalonill]

Until the Sabres Actually succeed 

It's TBD 

[Night Train]

Hair. He's going bald and well into my 60's, I still have a full head of hair. I see baldness as a sign of nerves and weakness. 

[Night Train]

He's not Biden or Trump. 

[Zamboni]

@Night Train you are going cause unnecessary shiiiiit in a hockey thread. Please don’t do that. 

[Stoner]

Are we really hanging our hat on the buzzword of culture? There was a headline in the local paper last fall that our high school football team was seeking to change its culture. I chuckled.

Give me toothless, divorced, boozehounding, tax evading and ... Wait for it... bald grownass men who can play.

LET'S ***** GO!

[Pimlach]

Since he started I have been unhappy with the goaltending decisions and I still am.  
 

If the Sabres get another 9th place ribbon (or worse) then the timeline and pace of Adams “plan” will become a very hot topic here, as it should be. 
 

Overall, he is doing fine and the trends are positive but it’s also time to make the playoffs.   

[SwampD]

20 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Are we really hanging our hat on the buzzword of culture? There was a headline in the local paper last fall that our high school football team was seeking to change its culture. I chuckled.

Give me toothless, divorced, boozehounding, tax evading and ... Wait for it... bald grownass men who can play.

LET'S ***** GO!

While I do agree with this, I will say that before KA took over, I hated this team. I was only watching out of habit and pretty much didn’t like a single player on the team (with exceptions, of course.) I couldn’t stand anything about them, coach, GM, owner, to say nothing of the bafflingly awful hockey they were playing. I was kinda hoping that they would move, so I could just watch hockey for hockey’s sake.

I like this team now. I want them to win. I like KA and he is the reason.

(I know, the last line should probably be in the other thread,… maybe the entire post. We live in a confusing time.)

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, SwampD said:

While I do agree with this, I will say that before KA took over, I hated this team. I was only watching out of habit and pretty much didn’t like a single player on the team (with exceptions, of course.) I couldn’t stand anything about them, coach, GM, owner, to say nothing of the bafflingly awful hockey they were playing. I was kinda hoping that they would move, so I could just watch hockey for hockey’s sake.

I like this team now. I want them to win. I like KA and he is the reason.

(I know, the last line should probably be in the other thread,… maybe the entire post. We live in a confusing time.)

I will always pull for the Sabres but I admit I was not liking them until Adams came in with the culture changes.
 

From top to bottom -  Pegula, Boterill, Krueger, Eichel, Risto, etc. -  I was sick of all of it.
 

Adam’s, with a lot of help from Granato, have put together a team that is fun to root for.  

[Eleven]

11 hours ago, SwampD said:

Yep. This is my last visit to this thread.

 

13 minutes ago, SwampD said:

While I do agree with this, I will say that before KA took over, I hated this team. I was only watching out of habit and pretty much didn’t like a single player on the team (with exceptions, of course.) I couldn’t stand anything about them, coach, GM, owner, to say nothing of the bafflingly awful hockey they were playing. I was kinda hoping that they would move, so I could just watch hockey for hockey’s sake.

I like this team now. I want them to win. I like KA and he is the reason.

(I know, the last line should probably be in the other thread,… maybe the entire post. We live in a confusing time.)

 

[RochesterExpat]

He and Donny G succeeded in making the team bearable to watch again so credit where credit is due; however, I can’t say the team is successful until the team actually succeeds.

[Eleven]

11 hours ago, SwampD said:

But because he didn't go to the magical, mythical land where all the spare starting veteran goalies grow and pluck one off the branch, he is a failure.

Seriously, he's had three seasons and nearly four off-seasons to straighten out the goaltending situation.  That's his job.  Other GMs seem to have managed.  If Levi doesn't work out, Adams has to go.

[Eleven]

11 hours ago, dudacek said:

So have it, why do you like the guy and why has the recent progress of the team given you hope?

He has made the team fun to watch again, for sure, but please see my comment in the other thread re goaltending.

[SwampD]

5 minutes ago, Eleven said:

 

 

Jerk.