GM Kevyn Adams & AGM Jerry Forton Pre-Draft Media Availability | June 20, 2024

GM Kevyn Adams & AGM Jerry Forton Pre-Draft Media Availability | June 20, 2024

hello how’s everybody I’m good I’m good but uh hope you’re all surviving the heat wave we’re getting here although it’s getting ready for Vegas for those you g talk to McMan the other day and he told me it was 111 so get prepared Mike you’re a baseball guy they don’t go to any baseball games if they do they have they have a they have a Triple H okay yeah all right well we actually have three um if you include Jason’s associate general manager but um yeah so the way we’ve kind of divided it up um more recently and this will crystallize as we move forward we Jerry’s still going to dayto day oversee the amateur um scouting Department a lot won’t we won’t name a director of amateur scouting he’ll kind of serve in that role I really like the way our amateur scouting department operates um we’ve had some continuity over the last two three years which I think helps as well um and he’ll add the pro um into his day-to-day um be kind of sitting more on management meetings roster discussions that’s stuff so that’ll be added to his plate but that won’t really change in terms of the dayto day from our scouting I think Jeremiah Crow has done an excellent job on the pro um but I I also think just Jerry’s experience and knowledge of the players um will help in that area you still with Mark jacobowski his role doesn’t change at all he really from the CBA and contract negotiations salary cap all those things um you know internal uh Administration with staff contracts that’s really his where he day today in the lead and then Jason caros will continue to you know be general manager of Rochester oversee the Player Development um and be involved in everything really I mean every scouting meeting we have um in his role he’s he’s really involved in I’m on the road during the year over you know watching amateur watching Pro um obviously maintaining a close eye on where we are as a rster depth charts of different positions um funneling up through Rochester to Buffalo so um it’s great for Jerry he’s certainly earn this opportunity um in my my opinion um but in terms of day-to-day I don’t think you’ll see a ton change just kind of some maybe inside structural differences a wondering where that is a possibility something you’re considering and yeah I the yeah so okay um wait what was the question oh yeah sorry um yeah uh look I mean I know you have to ask the question it’s not something I certainly will you know get into specifics on any you know these type of things but um I know there’s rumors out there there’s Rumblings and on different scenarios you know what I can tell you is from the day our season ended um you know after my conversations with Terry and kind of where we go from here every single thing that we’re doing this offseason we ask the question does this help our team get better does this does this put us in a position to improve and we’ve made a lot of decisions up to this point of where we sit today with that in mind and we’re going to continue so nothing’s off the table we’re going to talk about everything um we’re going to look at every scenario um but that’s probably as far as I go on specifics right now the Devils might want to be in the market trading their pick it’s widely known it’s one of the options you guys have but history has shown it’s difficult for a variety of reasons for teams to trade a first round pick it doesn’t happen very often GMS are hesitant at times how do you look at the the comparison of the idea of taking a pick at 11 or potentially getting a deal how difficult is it if you actually wanted to go down that road yeah it’s challenging I mean honestly because it goes both ways pick 11 is a very valuable asset um you are we are going to get a good player with pick 11 if we stay in that position and make the pick we’re confident of that um these guys have worked all year to to help us and be prepared for that pick in saying that I think you take in all the information um where are you as an organization what are your needs where’s your prospect pool because if you are really thin it you know in terms of your depth of prospects and you have your sitting at pick 11 and that even makes it more challenging of making a move so if you have a deep Prospect pull which I believe we do you’re maybe you’re more open to moving that pick but then it’s still a valuable pick you know you’re going to get a good player you have to be willing to weigh what are the options out there um is it good enough to make that decision in saying that now I’ve told every team in the league um that we are wide open um to to considering moving pick 11 um we were were wide open to consider anything to be honest with you prospects if we think it’s going to help our team and we’re having those conversations right now I’ve talk to every team around us that we’re open to hey we’d even look to move up that’s not always easy to do but you I think we have the assets to do that we’re very open to moving back um and depending how the draft slides and um you know the where where guys are going so all of that’s on the table these conversations have been going on for a few weeks um they’ll certain cly pick up steam here as in the next week as we get closer to Vegas um but I guess that’s how I weigh it you take in all the information and then you you do where you look at where you are as a team um going back to what I said to Lance and if we think this makes us better then we do it scenario obviously but would it be accurate to say that given where you are as an organization this is really the first time since you’ve been GM that you’re actually open to maybe trading that first I think so I a fair that’s a really fair comment um and I’ve said that to a number of GMS that you know we’ve been very in my opinion methodical and disciplined and had a plan in place going back um you know three three plus years now of how we were going to build this organization and franchise up I think we’ve been disciplined we’ve stuck to our plan um but I think we’ve moved into another phase now that we have to be um really open and looking to make these type of decisions but you still have to have the right opportunity to make them so if we end up pick you know making pick 11 um we’ll be excited about it and it but it won’t be from lack of effort of seeing what else was out there to do but I think it’s a really fair comment and i’ and I’ve told other GMS that Mike that this is the first year in my mind you’re always going to have conversations you’re always going to be looking at different ways to improve your roster but this year in particular is the first time I’d say that um we’re the most comfortable with kind of where we’ve built our Prospect pool that um if the right opportunity is there that we’ll be ready to do it what have you learn your experience going back to 2022 on the players you took and has your philosophy changed at all when it comes to the Russian Russian yeah I can like Jerry in a second jump in you know spe specifically on on this year’s draft but philosophically it hasn’t changed John I think you have to you have to slot the players where you believe they are from on your list from one to whatever the final number is take away geography take away everything you’re putting it purely on projection then you’re going to have to look at the variables um some of that might be could be injury history could be there could be contracts tied up in European there’s so many different variables certainly the Russian variable real um what is your what is your plan to develop them are you going to be able to get them over here um and we’ve seen it both ways we’ve drafted some Russian players that would’ve been able to get over here pretty quick and get in our system which is great and we’ve drafted players like aapo who we knew was going to be years away based on the contract so you weigh it nothing for us has changed philosophically though if you believe um you have the opportunity to get a player and it’s of value um we’ll do it yeah the only thing I would add to that is just to confirm what Kevin says that we rate the player first um and then you have to consider what are the unknowns uh with some of those players first some players in North America or other parts of Europe where we have more access to the player pre-draft so in those cases we might drop the players down our list a little bit and then it becomes a consideration if they’re available can you get high value because you got them later in the draft and then to your other part of the question maybe what we’ve learned um through this process the past few years and I think we you know anticipated this would be the case um these players have a lot on their plate um and you know maybe some of their development has been stagnated because of that uh both um having to come over and adapt and adjust to uh culture over here and to North American style of play and then just not having exposure the past two or three years and then the International Tournament T and being challenged on uh playing best and best tournaments and and that and our development staff doesn’t have their hands or as much direct contact with them so I do think we we’re finding across the league their development has been slowed down a little bit compared to some other players those to both of you just what do you see potentially available in that spot uh well not unlike previous drafts um I I think um you know the top four five six players in the draft I I would assume across the league there’s pretty good consensus on I think this draft might be a little bit unique uh after that point when you get to maybe six to 15 uh I think there’s a really wide spectrum of players and probably a lot of difference of opinions across the league uh on that group of players so it you know in past drafts you could kind of tick off the top 10 or 11 and maybe only one of those players would be available to you um at 11 1213 uh it wouldn’t shock me this year if you know there could be two or three players that we have in our top seven or eight that are available at 11 uh I just think there’s a little bit of a drop off after five but then I think it’s a deep group cluster of players after that yeah and I think that’s where you know my I’ve been really um challenging Jerry and the rest of the scouts to say um got to get the list right you know you have to order this right in right meaning what we truly believe because there’s a lot of variables do we do we like move up or down all those types of things so that’s why instead of um just just saying okay here’s two or three players we think are probably in that range of who we’re going to get let’s make sure we’re really getting this this um order of our list accurate so we’re we’re prepared for any situation process yeah yeah Lance I think just you know philosophically so you know that we are always open to that and I’ve talked to um I believe all the players that you’re referring to their agents um this summer and just you know we’re always open we’ve done it before but we we’ve also gone the other way you know I I think right now um we’re probably I wouldn’t anticipate that we’ll go down that road um this summer but you know we could change and if it was the to me it’s always about what’s what’s right for the US and what’s right for the player so we’re open to it but I don’t anticipate engaging in that the next couple months discussing you talked about because of the Season you were having you know it was hard maybe to get players to wave their trade trades things have changed you you know won a lot of games in the NHL has that maybe changed a little bit in your favor it has come up yeah a few times Paul and um Lindy has a lot of credibility in this league and a lot of respect in this league from players agents other general managers which he’s earned um and that’s a great thing for us so yeah I obviously can’t give you specifics but that has had I have had conversations where that exact thing has come up and um the players or the not through the through the teams have said or agents have said yeah that’s that’s certainly a coach that our guy would like to play for um and that’s a great thing and you know when it comes to hey you deal with these things when it comes to trade protection you know going into it um you know potentially where guys are and or you’re on their list or not on their list and all that stuff that’s all part of this um I think for me this is really just about focusing on how do we make sure our team’s better um you know putting ourselves in the best position to have success and because I truly believe almost I mean let’s just say the majority of players want to play in a winning team and want to be in a in a chance to win a Stanley Cup um and we need to put ourselves in that position his yeah man I mean you know my like my personal feeling on that is um it’s it’s really important to have relationships with your with your players um make sure they bigger than hockey you’re just you’re just getting to know them as people you’re building relationships so that you know when when when and if you need to have um challenging conversations you’re able to do that on an honest way uh back and forth um so you know that’s not that’s not specific to Jeff that’s that’s anyone and sometimes um those conversations might happen during the season where you’re sitting in the office together saying you know what’s going on you know we where he at and sharing back and forth you know what they’re feeling about the game what you’re seeing so so that’s a that’s step one with Jeff in particular um at the end of the season I I thought there was there was true honesty um back and forth um from from myself and um and him and you know I’ll leave specifics out but I think it’s safe to say that um I have a lot of respect for for Jeff um I mean he’s clearly an elite offensive player in this league um he’s done it a long time he’s he’s scored a lot of goals in this league and I have a lot of respect for Newport Sports who represents them um and how they handle themselves and the professionalism they they show on on a daily basis so I’ll keep the conversations private but I’ve I’ve certainly have had um dialogue and you know just kind of bigger than any one thing just talking in general about his game and in our team yester I know you’re always active in these talks talking everybody how how directly active have you been leading up to the draft and I know it’s busy draft time busiest time of the year it’s it’s awesome I love this time of year um for a couple reasons well four reasons um the draft’s great it is such an exciting time for a franchise when you’ve put so much work work by the amateur staff you know into what happens next week and bringing in a new uh set of prospects into your into your system and and I really I you know I put a lot of um trust and thought into Jerry and the staff then I do a lot of work myself um making sure you know through the combine and and all of that another reason is because of the conversations on a daily basis you’re having with other team’s general manager every single day on the phone from morning till night um this is the time of year where the phone’s next to me um even late it rings um I’ve gotten in a habit with our really nice warm weather of getting um going on walks late talking on the phone and if you see me in the bike path in clearance at 10 o’clock at night then um I’m working and that’s awesome that’s is the time of year uh another reason is because you’re working on your own um contracts internally that you’re getting that you’re trying to work towards so you’re uh your your constant dialogue with the agents um in going you know going through all different scenarios and how you get those done and the last is you’re preparing for potential free agents that could become available July one um you’re preparing with our Pro Staff having you know meetings that you know what are our needs who are the players if if they were to hit the market on July 1 you’d be open to adding so um it’s a great time of year it’s a busy time of year um the conversations with teams are are non-stop to be specific to your question um and they’ll continue to be right through the next couple weeks well like any player in his draft here I mean we comb through the history of the player pretty closely um you know we have a pretty thorough du diligence uh process that would include him um you know we’re not going to share that publicly um he’s a player we’ve talked about a lot on on ice and off ice profile and then we slot him at the appropriate spot on our list I remember back 2015 when you know Tim Murray traded picks on draft day and he was very good going to The Scouting staff 21 is gone 31 is gone I mean if that happens this year sure Kevin will have more words than that if it were to happen with you guys but uh in general how does the approach of The Scouting staff change in a year like this where you know that could happen that maybe you have to tighten up the first round because you might move down or knowing all your work won’t go for not but you might not get that chance to pick at 11 how does it change you guys how you approach this well first of all we’ve been very fortunate to make a lot of high draft picks here um the last few years so ultimately that is exciting for us and it it really makes us look good to be honest with you when you’re picking that high all the time um but we’re prepared and that’s a perfect case of why you have to be prepared for everything and you might move down you might swap picks you might move up you might lose the pick um we still have to have our list all the way through um in order and be prepared as Kevin says and like we all understand this is a monotonous job what we do on a yearly basis but you have to kind of take joy in that and understand that sometimes the information you’re bringing to the organization might be used in that draft or it might come back to be useful five six seven years later um and then the only other thing I would add to that is the amateur scouting staff would always be excited if we used one of our picks or one of our prospects and the decision was made to make our team better right now or it might even be a matter of giving more variety to our Prospect pool by swapping different types of players uh so that’s something we’re always on board with and I think that’s just as exciting to us as as the PE contracts for Pekka and Henry are you confident you can get something done this summer yep absolutely I think uh you know those conversations started um man back during the season maybe March or so uh with UPL in particular uh they’ve been productive and I think I said this to you guys maybe before when I’ve been asked is that for me just personally I like to start these conversations making sure we’re aligned on do does the player want to be here do they believe in what we’re doing um because if you’re not if you don’t start there in a good spot I think it’s going to be a really challenge um and that’s UPL made it very clear he’s he loves this team loves the city wants to be here uh we’re excited about him and we’re going to work at it you know we’re we’re continuing to have conversations last week there’ll be some more in Vegas but um yeah excited about how we move forward there Henry has a new agency um you know which does change just in terms of when you have to pick up and start over again to some extent um which has been totally fine had productive conversation at the combine with JP Barry who now represents um Henry and then you you know Peyton Krebs as well um his agent uh was in our office during the combine week talking about um Payton situation and we’re going to get together again in Vegas so um no concern these are these are three important players for us ofes does he his you as a player well I I can give you a couple things that I uh think stand out to me um with Peyton in particular first of all he’s still a young player you know like he’s we forget that because he has been here now a while since the eel trade and um you know he’s kind of still finding his way to some extent um that most young players go through that process but when I asked him about his season um at the end of the year at the EXA meeting and the first thing he said to me was I truly believe I can be a really good 200 foot two-way centerman in this league and I’m still working and I’m getting better but that was a little bit of a shift you know when I think when he first got here there was so much emphasis on offense and he had always been an offensive player and which is normal by the way most most first round pick centerman are usually talented offensive players and that doesn’t mean that we don’t think he has still a chance to become a really um good offensive player but I just think him embracing you know the role in in playing both sides and wanting to kill penalties and these things so I think we’re still um going to see him improve and we’re going to see him grow as a player but I think the upside and the I just I like his competitiveness I like his character um and I like now that his mature um mindset of of different ways to succeed in this league and not just an offensive side so that to me was a telling statement and um I’m excited about it season still going on you have personal to the final and you have draft considerations so we know who you want to see win the thing um but in general just what are your takeaways so far and what are your thoughts on the Panthers no matter if they choke this away or win it you’re chasing them they’ve been in the final two years in a row out of your division just what kind of takeaways you have the way they’ve gone through the playoffs yeah I think I study it’s no secret I mean we all do this there’s a lot of CopyCat that goes on in this league I certainly study other teams rosters I study how teams were put together how they how they structure contracts um I think Florida’s done a phenomenal job in terms of um using no state tax to their benefit um that certainly helps in in building a roster and just getting players to you know be open to doing you know certain contracts that maybe they wouldn’t be willing to do somewhere and they’ve backed it up with having a great team and a great coach um who I know very well so um they’re they’re a kind of what I would say a a model um across the league right now in terms of the way they play they’re they’re they’re hard to play against they’re offensive but they can also play defensively and you know so all that um is pretty impressive and you don’t go to the finals two years in a row by accident um just from a you know personal standpoint um you know if you go back to 2006 the year I was fortunate enough to win the cup in in Carolina we lost game five at home in overtime with a chance to to win um and I do remember specifically getting on that plane and flying to Edmonton and it was it was tough so the emotions that you go through um the ups and downs to be to become a Stanley Cup champion are real I mean they’re in it right now um but if I was you know if you look at their team it’s just it’s impressive and what I’ve talked to our Management Group about I’ve talked to Lindy about a lot over the last few weeks is you know how do you take the best um let’s call it best practices of of certain organizations and things you’re seeing but how do we make it authentic to the Buffalo Savers and how do we how how do we do it our way you know and that’s that’s from on the ice and the style of play but that’s also from in my job in terms of putting the roster together so it’s something I definitely put a lot of thought into and um yeah it feels condensed doesn’t it right now you know the cuff still going we’re going to be in Vegas in a few days and then you I don’t know it uh it’s just the way the schedule Falls this year be playing game seven on Monday they’ be drafting in Vegas on Friday that would be a good problem to even though it would be a problem I will take that problem let’s let’s absolutely sign up for that problem um next year but no it’s a lot I mean I think as a general manager um that’s why you have really good people around you there from from Kenny Holland and Bill Zito I promise you they’re not as focused on the draft or conversations that that I am right now because of what they’re in but they they’re clearly I’m sure sending uh setting the tone for the organization and making sure that the people around them are are ready so they’ll be there but yeah that’s a that’s a quick turnaround for surek yeah maybe this is counter intr I’m not sure but um at the top of the draft I’m always trying to minimize risk um I I don’t think that’s an area the drafter should be taking on high risks so that’s the first thing uh we try to do with the pick you’re obviously looking for huge upside but there should be huge upside with just about any player you’re taking at that point so uh that’s that’s the first thing I in terms of our Prospect pool uh I actually think it’s Prett pretty balanced right now uh and I actually think the you know top 15 in the draft is pretty balanced this year with forward and so I I don’t think we’ll be giving a higher preference to any specific position even more so than any other year we’ll we’ll be taking the best player available is the early plan UK peka and Devon next season do you want to add a EST veteran or a veteran maybe for ret like I guess what’s the plan right now yeah well I think if I go back to what I’ve said before I think um we really like the position one with having you know UPL and Devon Levi as still young developing oldends guys we think are going to continue to grow and get better um that are extremely talented and hardworking and character people so that’s a good place to start um and yeah we’ll look we’ll look at depth we obviously need to to slot you know guys three four five in the organization and you know how is that going to look and there’s you know it’s it’s no secret that it’s it’s not easy um from go tending you know just in terms of depth and all of that um around the league you know it’s it’s a it’s a tough position um so we’re open-minded I mean our plan is what I said that we’re going to have two really talented young golender um playing on a nightly basis which I think is great um and then we’ll we’ll make sure that we have depth covered but yeah it’s a conversation that we’re we’re open to to looking at different options different things but that’s our plan at the moment well it’s it’s a really good question um the answer is both um but you know I think just I could tell you both have their their pros and cons if you want to say it that way when you when you look around the league as we go through our Pro scouting meetings that we do pretty quickly after this after this the regular season was over um once you have your own internal discussions on your roster and where you’re at then you then we start to flip to we go through every team in the league in depth from you know right through their depth charts and the roster right through their minor league depth um so you have a handle and um kind of on what’s going on and then you start to identify are their potential fits guys that could fit into what we need here um that we could potentially you know acquire through a trade um so the upside of when you’re looking at potential trade options is you’re targeting players you’re getting exactly what you think you need now the downside is what are the acquisition costs and the assets that you have to give up to acquire that player so that’s always the balance for agency um on one hand is is really great in terms of you’re not giving up necessarily um an acquis there’s not an acquisition cost but then there’s a monetary or term cost to contracts that are often times um different you know based on someone having Demand right so on July 1 a player um and they earned that right in their career they get to become an unrestricted free agent and if you have multiple teams calling the term might go up the dollar might go up and then that takes you out of maybe your comfort zone um for a particular slot that we’re trying to fill so we’re open to both uh We’ve we’ve done our homework um in terms of the potential guys that could be out there as free agents um you know we’ve ranked them in terms of position we’ve ranked them in terms of what our needs are um and you you want to make sure you’re in on those conversations when free agency opens on July 1 and you and you know like as you guys know it happens fast so you got to be you got to be ready but um we’ll go down both roads um and we’ll see how and we’ll make the best decision we can and we’ll see how um we can check the boxes of what we think we need to do thanks guys safe travels for

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and assistant general manager Jerry Forton spoke with the media ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft on June 28.

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