Sabres promote Jerry Forton to Assistant GM

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, Brawndo said:

 

This is has me worried 

 

 

So basically the practical shift is that he’s been elevated over Crowe and the pro scouting department (which I think is only Crowe?)

[LGR4GM]

[Brawndo]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

So basically the practical shift is that he’s been elevated over Crowe and the pro scouting department (which I think is only Crowe?)

Pretty much it appears.

Hopefully Lance is incorrect and it is the move Tom Webster mentioned. 

[Mr Peabody]

Could be he had an outside offer and this kept him in house.  Might be getting outside looks based on our prospect pool.  Thought he came across as a solid guy at last years draft interview. 

[Archie Lee]

The hockey scouting world is filled with brothers, sons, nephews, old teammates and buddies. Some of them turn out to be good at it.  

All indications are that this leaves Forton with more, not less, responsibility when it comes to amateur scouting and the draft. I think the Sabres have drafted well the last 5-6 years, so I can’t say this bothers me. 

[Taro T]

43 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

This is has me worried 

 

 

IF he's practicing "servant leadership" it could be a good thing.  I.e., if being the leader is making sure the people doing the work have what they need to do their jobs, it could be good.  But if he's the one deciding the direction of the scouting (which really should be coming from Adams, not him), then yes, that is troubling.

[That Aud Smell]

Maybe I need to re-read the whole thread.

Can someone tl;dr it and explain why this ostensible promotion is bad?

Edit: I went back and read the thread. This feels fairly “meh” to me. There’s the nepotism. There’s also a decent track record with identifying talent. 

Edited June 12 by That Aud Smell

[Flashsabre]

Overall the drafting has been good under Forton.  Every franchise will miss on some picks but I think his overall body of work has been solid. He wanted MacAvoy when Timmy decided on A Nylander at the last second.

The pro scouting has been atrocious for years. Getting serious about that side of the scouting should be at the top of their list.

[tom webster]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Pretty much it appears.

Hopefully Lance is incorrect and it is the move Tom Webster mentioned. 

Like Taro said, I think it can be both. Heading a department can be more of an administrative position. 

[That Aud Smell]

4 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Do you not know? 

I don’t. It’s why I asked who he is.

[thewookie1]

Karmanos is Associate GM meaning he’s still higher up. He’s also the GM for Rochester.

Forton is getting a fancier title and likely a small pay raise to reward his hard work

[JoeSchmoe]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

His Brother in Law is Terry’s Business Partner and he has been with the team for a decade. Total nepotism hire 

Isn't this a bit of a weak connection? I.E:

Forton's sisters husband works with Terry, OR Forton's wife's brother works with Terry.

He's kind of a legit local hockey guy, and it looks like he's paid similar dues that a non-nepotism hire would pay. Unless he's Head GM'ing, I'm not going to worry about it.

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, tom webster said:

Like I said, it’s not unique to Buffalo. Knowing how to placate the powers that be is an art form and vital to success. Marv Levy heeded  Mary Wilson’s advice to keep Ralph happy and upper management has been doing it since ownership stopped actually running the businesses they own. It made Dale Carnegie rich and is really vital to corporate success.

Agree.  He role may be less impactful with the title change "assistant" GM, which could actually be "assistant to the GM"

 

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

My speculative guess (based on how Pegula has operated so far) is if Adams fails to get them into the playoffs this year he will be fired and Forton will be named as the new GM. Which would be absurd, but I'd bet on it.

Karmonos is higher in the chain as Associate GM.  

[SABRES 0311]

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

So basically you're saying that if Adams fails this summer, we're hitting the reset button with the ultimate manifestation of the Peter Principle in charge of the next 4-year rebuild?

Sabrespace crumbles to dust as even @PromoTheRobot admits defeat and adopts the Bandits as his full-time team.

And @PASabreFan is left alone in the wasteland, wearing his tattered Larry Mickey jersey and gloating in the devastation of his ultimate victory.

I'm saying Pegula would do this and will do this (hoping we make the playoffs myself and so we never find out). He will only hire GMs that are yes men to him. There is no reason to think he'd change what he's already been doing. 

[PerreaultForever]

46 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Agree.  He role may be less impactful with the title change "assistant" GM, which could actually be "assistant to the GM"

 

Karmonos is higher in the chain as Associate GM.  

But Karmonos isn't a yes man (I don't think). 

[LGR4GM]

I guess we'll see what happens. If Karmanos goes though, we're at DEFCON 1. 

[dudacek]

I guess the Bergeron hire should be considered in conjunction with this.

College scouting was Forton’s thing. Bergeron picks up some of the slack as Forton adds more admin duties, and in the process frees of Crowe from admin duties to do more actual scouting?
 

[matter2003]

4 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

The hockey scouting world is filled with brothers, sons, nephews, old teammates and buddies. Some of them turn out to be good at it.  

All indications are that this leaves Forton with more, not less, responsibility when it comes to amateur scouting and the draft. I think the Sabres have drafted well the last 5-6 years, so I can’t say this bothers me. 

Imagine complaining about a team that has BY FAR the deepest pipeline in the NHL even tho they have promoted heavily from it within the last 3-4 years.  Seriously...there are plenty of things to not like about this team, but complaining about the biggest area of strength ain't it.

Some people just work OT to not like anything they do it feels like whether it makes logical sense or not.

Edited June 12 by matter2003

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I don’t. It’s why I asked who he is.

I was genuinely surprised you didn't know.  He's been part of the Face of the Sabres for quite a while.

1 hour ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Get to know Jerry Forton:

2021:

 

 

 2022:

 

2023:

 

 

 

Edited June 12 by Doohickie

[Doohicksie]

7 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I bet he cried again.

For those of you who were unaware of where that remark came from, this is from the 2022 draft, when asked basically what it was like to work with Kevyn (after having worked with JBott previously).  He clearly thinks Kevyn is a better GM as far as listening to his own people.  Cued up to the right spot:

 

Edited June 12 by Doohickie

[thewookie1]

3 hours ago, Doohickie said:

For those of you who were unaware of where that remark came from, this is from the 2022 draft, when asked basically what it was like to work with Kevyn (after having worked with JBott previously).  He clearly thinks Kevyn is a better GM as far as listening to his own people.  Cued up to the right spot:

 

Frankly if there's one thing I trust about Adams is that he truly embodies the "manager" part of his title. For all the questionable circumstances we have in the front office; we can trust Adams isn't running the team believing he's some sort of hockey genius 

[That Aud Smell]

Cripes - stop spamming the thread with every YouTube video the guy's ever appeared in.

For that matter, why do people care about who's in the Sabres FO? Fans should just stick to what's happening on the ice with the rostered players. Curiosity about and inquiry into things other than on-ice performance is weird.

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, Doohickie said:

For those of you who were unaware of where that remark came from, this is from the 2022 draft, when asked basically what it was like to work with Kevyn (after having worked with JBott previously).  He clearly thinks Kevyn is a better GM as far as listening to his own people.  Cued up to the right spot:

That is actually pretty interesting.

I have serious doubts over whether Adams is fit to serve as an NHL GM.

OTOH, if I'm to credit Jerry Forton (and, sure, why not - he seems a decent fellow), Adams does create a very good working environment throughout the organ-eye-zation.

[Doohicksie]

7 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

stop spamming the thread with every YouTube video the guy's ever appeared in.

Trust me, that's just a sample.  And I included that many because I think it's interesting to hear what he's said about the talent drafted over the past few years.  Takes a while to get through it (but hey, it's the offseason) but I thought it was interesting.

Edited June 12 by Doohickie