Friedman believes changes are coming to Sabres Front Office; UPL Available?

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, French Collection said:

A promotion in name but a demotion in responsibility.

I have seen people get promoted from trades jobs into management positions because they were lousy with tools in their hands and were more of a hindrance to the crews than anything else. TP might finally realize that KA doesn’t have the skills to be a GM but hey, he listens well and makes him feel good. Besides, he would have to pay him anyway.

Right. Tbh I don’t need a bloodletting. I don’t need to see KA without a pay check. I need to see him away from the GM position and frankly if that happens I’m not going to call it a “in name only” transition until proven otherwise, when I’ve maintained for a while Adams has had considerable impact  in that specific spot he wouldn’t have had otherwise without that title 

[Flashsabre]

You know your franchise is a well oiled  machine when you are praying that the GM that has missed the playoffs for 5 straight years gets a promotion 😁

I’ll take anything that gets a new person in the GM chair.

They should absolutely move UPL. UPL for Demko, roll the dice that he returns to form. Move UPL, sign Freddie Andersen for a year. Switch it up in between the pipes.

[Archie Lee]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

This year's scapegoat is "conditioning"

I agree, for sure.  Last year's scapegoat was accountability, but Granato also took the fall.  I could see this year that it will be an assistant coach and maybe pro-scouting or analytics who get fired. 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Friedman said that he thinks "...at the very least some of the staff around [Adams] will be out and [Adams] will change it".  He then asks something a bit strange.  He asks "...does that mean Adams changes his title at all, I don't know, we'll hear from him [today]?".  That was odd phrasing.  Why or how would Adams change his own title?  Did Friedman misspeak and mean that he wonders if "Pegula will change Adams's title"? 

I'm not sure it's worth trying to sort out what Friedman might have some inside information on vs. what he is speculating on. I think a lot of the national coverage and speculation around the Sabres assumes that on some level the Sabres function like a normal major league franchise, when those of us who follow the team more closely know that is largely not the case. I mean, from the national media perspective, someone has to be fired, right?  It could just be that Friedman is making that assumption, because what organization in this situation wouldn't make some changes to the front office?

To me, anything less than there being a change in GM (regardless of what Adams's title ends up being), is just Pegula and Adams finding this year's scapegoat. 

Ya I mean they can’t just name Adams POHO and have NO gm, because then Adams is obviously GM. There needs to be *some* plausible deniability it’s not just a meaningless shuffle haha 

honestly, I hope I didn’t get my hopes up, and Adams is still GM after today 

@Ogelthorpe?

[Archie Lee]

On UPL, my opinion is that he will thrive on a team that plays with actual structure.  Something that Lindy Ruff was brought in to provide.

It speaks to the abilities of whomever made the decision to hire Ruff, that they were unaware he has not coached effective structure as a HC, in well over a decade.  Indeed, going from Granato to Ruff was like throwing gas on the fire.

[Carmel Corn]

My cynical side feels that if there is change in the FO, it means everybody who is already incompetent gets a promotion (ex. title change too).  GMKA gets POHO, Karmanos gets the GM job.  In other words, a big nothing burger.

[Ogelthorpe]

6 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Ya I mean they can’t just name Adams POHO and have NO gm, because then Adams is obviously GM. There needs to be *some* plausible deniability it’s not just a meaningless shuffle haha 

honestly, I hope I didn’t get my hopes up, and Adams is still GM after today 

@Ogelthorpe?

100% Pegula has his hands all over decisions on this team. KA is a yes man and a rat to previous regimes. That is the only reason he got the job. My response was to your previous post that Pegula does not make the decisions.  

Edited Saturday at 02:25 PM by Ogelthorpe

[Thorner]

10 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Friedman said that he thinks "...at the very least some of the staff around [Adams] will be out and [Adams] will change it".  He then asks something a bit strange.  He asks "...does that mean Adams changes his title at all, I don't know, we'll hear from him [today]?".  That was odd phrasing.  Why or how would Adams change his own title?  Did Friedman misspeak and mean that he wonders if "Pegula will change Adams's title"? 

I'm not sure it's worth trying to sort out what Friedman might have some inside information on vs. what he is speculating on. I think a lot of the national coverage and speculation around the Sabres assumes that on some level the Sabres function like a normal major league franchise, when those of us who follow the team more closely know that is largely not the case. I mean, from the national media perspective, someone has to be fired, right?  It could just be that Friedman is making that assumption, because what organization in this situation wouldn't make some changes to the front office?

To me, anything less than there being a change in GM (regardless of what Adams's title ends up being), is just Pegula and Adams finding this year's scapegoat. 

Looking at the quote again, the idea Adams will be in a different position seems to be based on the piecing together of the two tweets that started the thread - but if that’s the actual quote the title change thing from Friedman seems somewhat out of left field and maybe not at all what is looming for Adams. Chad’s tweet, then, could be a grasp at verifying his earlier idea as being “correct” more than a good indicator a change for Adams is coming, either  

maybe his title won’t change at all 

Edited Saturday at 02:25 PM by Thorner

[Night Train]

Astrology isn't real.  It just pays off when one needs income and finds the gullible. See Friedman. 

Too many tin men in the lineup ( no heart ).  

They do need to start with finding a solution at Goalie. 

[Crusader1969]

55 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Oh goodie! A new title! Executive in charge of Executing Hockey Operations

 

New office, too? This sounds stupid, shifting deck chairs and all 

 

What is going to happen with the goaltending is a very serious question though. Teams are actually interested in UPL? I have my doubts but with the goaltending situations around the league being what they are, who knows? 

Levi and Reimer for next year? 

I would consider it.  
 

 

UPL can't be counted on and his $4.75m is an anchor on the salary cap 

[Crusader1969]

We are going to have to figure out how to spell "Jarmo Kekäläinen" in the near future 

[Archie Lee]

20 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

My cynical side feels that if there is change in the FO, it means everybody who is already incompetent gets a promotion (ex. title change too).  GMKA gets POHO, Karmanos gets the GM job.  In other words, a big nothing burger.

I disagree that it would be a nothing burger.  I mean, it could prove to be a nothing burger, but I don't think it has to be.  I'm trying real hard to put lipstick on a theoretical pig here, but some positive things that could prove to be true:

- Adams might be better suited for a POHO role where he is the measured voice of reason that exists between the owner and GM. He does now have 5 years experience as a GM and if he is at all self-aware, he will recognize some mistakes he has made. 

- Karmanos is far, far more qualified for the GM role than Adams was when Adams got the job.  Karmanos has actually worked under experienced GM's for cup-winning franchises. I know that some people see Karmanos as being nothing more than a former nepo-hire, who was brought in to Buffalo to be a yes-man and support the Adams philosophies of "want to be here" and "no blockers".  But a couple of things to that:  1.) Smart people learn from their own mistakes and from the mistakes of the people who are around them or who they work for.  2.) An assistant's job is always to help the person in charge realize their vision.  Don Granato was an assistant under Ralph Krueger and they could not have had more different philosophies on how to play the game of hockey.  Obviously I have no idea Karmanos would be in the role (if he gets it), but I'm no more worried about him and his background than I would be about anyone else who would agree to work under Adams/Pegula. We aren't getting Jim Nill or Doug Armstrong.

- In our 14 year streak, we have never had a mid-season change to HC that was intended to salvage a season. Adams to POHO and Karmanos to GM opens up at least a possibility of a mid-season coaching change.  If Adams is still GM in the last year of his deal, I think it is unlikely that Pegula authorizes him to fire Ruff in December and bring in his 3rd head coach; if so it would just be something like a move to Appert on an interim basis. If Adams is POHO and Karmanos is GM, with 3 year contracts, such a change is at least feasible.  Last season, the Islanders, Oilers, and Kings, rebounded after mid-season head coaching changes to make the playoffs.  This year, St. Louis did it.  

Edited Saturday at 02:41 PM by Archie Lee

[LGR4GM]

26 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

I agree, for sure.  Last year's scapegoat was accountability, but Granato also took the fall.  I could see this year that it will be an assistant coach and maybe pro-scouting or analytics who get fired. 

Analytics did great. Brought us McLeod and helped get Cozens out the door.

[Archie Lee]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

Analytics did great. Brought us McLeod and helped get Cozens out the door.

I'm not saying it would be justified, just that if Adams and Ruff are still GM and HC and they fire assistants, then in my view the firings are just scape goats.  I would include Marty Wilford, Matt Ellis, and Jerry Forton in that.  I'm not saying any particular assistant should be kept. But if your GM has missed the playoffs for 5 straight years and your HC has had two winning seasons in his last 11, then they are your biggest issues and any changes to assistant roles just amount to a couple of men who don't know what they are doing, finding someone to blame for their failings.  An example being: the players need to be in better shape.   

[JoeSchmoe]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

UPL available??? I'm available too (and I come cheap!), but it doesn't mean anybody wants me 

[Thorner]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Analytics did great. Brought us McLeod and helped get Cozens out the door.

Did analytics have the day off when we signed DC LT? 

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, JoeSchmoe said:

UPL available??? I'm available too (and I come cheap!), but it doesn't mean anybody wants me 

Could see UPL being worth a legit return.  He's shown glimpses of being really good and there's a lot of GMs and coaches that believe they're smart enough to get him to maintain a level of play where he was at in January '24.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Did analytics have the day off when we signed DC LT? 

When was that? 2022?

[Pimlach]

39 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This year's scapegoat is "conditioning"

Probably so. I thought they started the season looking sluggish, but more  like a team that was thinking too much and  didn’t know each other or the system.     They just seemed to have problems playing Lindy’s system at the start, including special teams which never really improved either. 

New players were Kulich, Malenstyn, Lafferty, Zucker, McLeod, and Abe-Kubel.  About half the forwards.  

Either way, “conditioning” is a poor excuse and unacceptable in professional sports today.   

[JoeSchmoe]

13 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Could see UPL being worth a legit return.  He's shown glimpses of being really good and there's a lot of GMs and coaches that believe they're smart enough to get him to maintain a level of play where he was at in January '24.

I hope you're right! I just would have thought teams would balk at the contract more than the player.

[Ogelthorpe]

Fire all assistant coaches. Bring up Prospal and let him do all press conferences after losses. Lol

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Carmel Corn said:

My cynical side feels that if there is change in the FO, it means everybody who is already incompetent gets a promotion (ex. title change too).  GMKA gets POHO, Karmanos gets the GM job.  In other words, a big nothing burger.

Why do you quickly assume Jason Karmanos is incompetent?  Based on his past and on Rochester’s record he is not incompetent.  He is actually very qualified and ready.   
 

We don’t know if he can succeed as an NHL GM, especially under this ownership.  But compare his resume to tne one Adams had when Adams was handed the GM job.  Karmanos was far more qualified than Adams was to be the Sabres GM.  I always thought it was odd that he came to work for the Sabres.  

Karmanos had 15 seasons with the Canes, including 13 seasons as an AGM.  He then had 6 seasons with Pens, 3 as AGM  and 3 as VP to the POHO.  His name is on 3 Stanley Cups.   In addition to running Rochester, he helped the Sabres rebuild the  scouting department, oversee  player development,  and support the analytics department.  

Karmanos is the first and ONLY person within this current organization that I would consider to be GM.  So if they go internal to replace Adams as GM, I want it to be Karmanos.  My only concern is how much autonomy he will get with Adams/Pegula above him, but that is always a factor in every organization    

 

[bob_sauve28]

37 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Could see UPL being worth a legit return.  He's shown glimpses of being really good and there's a lot of GMs and coaches that believe they're smart enough to get him to maintain a level of play where he was at in January '24.

I could see a swap for another under performing goalie hoping we can turn him around, but salary would probably have to match. Maybe we ship him off as a salary dump and get a 4th rounder in return. 

 

Are you ok with Levi and Reimer for next year? 

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I could see a swap for another under performing goalie hoping we can turn him around, but salary would probably have to match. Maybe we ship him off as a salary dump and get a 4th rounder in return. 

 

Are you ok with Levi and Reimer for next year? 

No.  Next year's presumptive starter can not currently be in house.  It MIGHT work, running it back, but after 14 years (5 of which is owned by the current GM) they CAN'T be building a team that MIGHT make the playoffs if ONLY at least 8 of these 10 things all happen.

Have said somewhere here (probably in the Reimer thread) that am OK with Reimer being back IF they've brought in a legit starter and he's clearly the backup.  Am OK with keeping UPL and Levi both in system, provided they've brought somebody else in that those 2 will have to actually beat out to grab the starter's role.

[GoPuckYourself]

1 hour ago, 7+6=13 said:

No, It'll be KO.

This guy?