Kevyn Adams is about to join some (un)esteemed company

[Archie Lee]

I did a little research this morning.  https://records.nhl.com/records/general-manager-registry

In the post-expansion era of the NHL (back to 1967-68), there have been 6 general managers who have made it through their first 5 seasons as GM with one team, without making the playoffs.  

Max McNab, Washington.  McNab was not the Caps 1st GM.  He took over in year two and held the job for 6 full seasons before being fired early in year 7.  Incredibly, he was later hired by the Devils, where he also never made the playoffs. 11 years total, no playoffs.

Eddie Johnson, Pittsburgh.  The Pens never made the playoffs in Johnson's 5 years there, from 83-84 through 87-88. He then was hired by Hartford, where he did amake the playoffs 3 years in a row (though the Whalers weren't that good in those years).

Mike Milbury, New York Islanders. Milbury did not make the playoffs until his 7th season on the Island.  He did not work as a GM again after his time in NY.

Don Waddell, Atlanta.  Wadell was the GM of the expansion Thrashers.  They did not make the playoffs until year 7.  He eventually redeemed his reputation with Carolina and now with Columbus*.

Doug McLean, Columbus.  McLean was the Blue Jackets 1st GM and never made the playoffs in 6 years.  He has not worked as a GM since.

Steve Yzerman, Detroit.  The Wings have not made the playoffs in 6 years under Yzerman. As of today, they are 2 points out of the last WC spot, but are on a 3-6-1 slide. Yzerman did make the playoffs 5 times with the Lightning, including making it to the cup finals in 14-15. 

Adams will join the list once this season is over.  So too might Bill Armstrong in Utah, who has been with Arizona/Utah for the same 5 season stretch; though, Utah is still in the race, 4 points out and playing good hockey at 6-3-1 over the past 10.

Basically the 6 can be split into 3 groups.  1.) Guys who worked for expansion teams (McNab, Waddell, McLean).   2.) A local legend who built a great team as a GM in another city and is now getting every benefit of the doubt (Yzerman).  3.) Two men considered among the worst GM's in history (Milbury and Johnson).  I will let you slot Adams into the category you think he belongs in; for clarity though, he doesn't qualify for categories 1 and 2.

 

*On Waddell, am I remembering correctly that there was a brief moment this past off-season, before he signed with Columbus, where there was speculation that he was coming to Buffalo as POHO?  Or was I just dreaming? 

 

 

[Stoner]

Great work. This stuff makes the board better. Glad someone has the moxie (?) to do it. My moxi is on E.

[Gatorman0519]

Nothing is worse than the Buffalo Sabres current state historically. 14 years takes dedicate hard work at being inept.

[GoPuckYourself]

It’s hard to believe with the pieces we had we never made it at the very least on accident. This is not a well constructed team at all (I know thank you captain obvious). 

[7+6=13]

2 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

It’s hard to believe with the pieces we had we never made it at the very least on accident. This is not a well constructed team at all (I know thank you captain obvious). 

I disagree.  I think it's a decently structured team, lacking high end talent.  The most difficult type of players to acquire for Buffalo.  They must be drafted and it hasn't happened.

[thewookie1]

That reminds me, Doug McLean said on SiriusXM that he actually interviewed for the GM/President job around COVID

[FrenchConnection44]

Dude has to go. Find a real GM this offseason. Find one that people have confidence in and who can sell some players on coming to Buffalo. 

We have had some not so great luck with getting a top pick in a not so great draft years. We need to lose when the draft is really strong. This would be a good year to get in the top 3 or 4 in the draft, where we can at least get a player who can get to the league next year. Especially great with a new GM. Of course Adams traded away a potentially strong pick in round 2, which hurts.

We did get a steal in Peterka in round 2. But Quinn was kind of a meh pick given some of the picks around him. 

Good News: we do have a pretty tough schedule going the rest of the way which could help us secure a top 3-4 pick.

Bad News: we often tend to play well when not expected against good teams  and suck when expected to win. And we are also getting close to being due for one of our 4-5 game win streaks, having lost 6 in a row. 

I don’t see how season ticket holders and people who might be closer to the owner don’t raise hell about Adams and the franchise in general.