GM Kevyn Adams Pre-Draft Media Availability | June 27, 2024

GM Kevyn Adams Pre-Draft Media Availability | June 27, 2024

leing on the win how we doing Kevin the trade that you just made about an hour ago is that just the type of trade where there was just too much value to up yeah I think that’s um well I I you know look at this this year’s draft we feel pretty strongly that after six or seven it’s really a wide range of where the names are going to go we thought it’s a it’s a real good value for us to make that deal we really like the group of players we see ourselves potentially um targeting at 14 we pick up an extra asset which is good value um a pick 42 and then that’s certainly something that we’ll talk about we we’re actively you know shopping um around to look and see if there’s a a deal to make to help our roster better um with pick 43 um so this just gives us a little bit more anation does it hurt you from a trade standpoint like you had talk about you’re willing to trade number 11 if the value is there for it I guess my question is was there really as you went through trades and there really not the value you wanted which made this more attractive or can you still do something like that with the 14th well I guess that’s I guess the way I would say it is there was not a trade and we went through every possible scenario with everything team you could possibly um go through uh that we felt comfortable made sense for pick 11 um and there’s also any trade that we’ve potentially looked at or talked about um it wasn’t uh there could still be the same trade there for to you know so that’s that’s part of the thought process as well but um you know I I said we’re we’re doesn’t mean we’re done here you know we’re going to actively look this pick’s available if it makes sense for us we could uh we have assets to move back up we can move down again we just felt this one made sense for us based on you know what I said earlier I heard your comment on Sabers live and you were asked about Jeff um I know nothing’s happened obviously but when it in terms of what you may do does would you maybe adding a a top six forward is that something that you would be trying to do to you know That Could set the table for making a move like that yeah of course I mean I think um like I said maybe a week ago I think everything’s on the table we’re going to look at every possible scenario whether that’s trade opportunities um to make our team better um who’s out there in free agency and those are things we’re we’re looking at and juggling um you know no final decisions been made on on jeffi it’s not we’re not in a situation where we have to we’re not at that point you know we can still continue to really see how this all shakes out out um obviously with Jeff’s situation in particular and any trade scenario you may have a conversation about he has a full no move Clause um so there’s constant communication uh back to Jeff’s Camp there in Newport but um those are just things that we’ve worked on and we’re still working on Bas yeah I think that’s um that’s something that yeah it’s a fair way to say it um you know basically as we look at this we’re weighing everything what are potential trades that we think help our team get better where would if we made a move where does Jeff slot in you know our lineup um J and he been an elite scorer in this league for a long time um but if not playing a Top Line top you know minute type role where did where do you slot a player like that you know so those are all the things you’re kind of weighing but um like I said we’re we’re heavily in those conversations internally and externally and we still have time to make our final decisions obvious depend on the team but have you have youed open to that no um you know there’s been hon honest communication but um no indication that um that’s something that they’re willing to look at but you know all you can do is just have honest conversations and and explain certain situations that could be out there um and we’ve done that but I would done any sort of traction or movement did you ask him or they say well I think part of my job is to make sure I’m communicating when you have situations like this and there’s a no move there’s that means no move so there’s you know you have to out of respect for the player too and this isn’t yeah exactly and this isn’t just Jeff this isn’t any situation like this if if you have a player that has a no move clause and even if there was a situation that arose that you’re interested in and um you know the spirit of no moves the player’s not moving you know and so you have to just start with transparency of information to the agent um which we’ve done now you know back and forth to say hey here’s some of the things we’re thinking about internally here’s um things and I said this last week I have a lot of respect for Newport Sports and these these guys are they’re Pros they’ve been in this a long time they know they know the business they know the market um they do a good job of their players so we’ve just had honest dialogue and you know they know um everything we’re thinking and talking about and we know where they’re what happened to Jeff the second half of last year because he had two really good years and he evolved into a different type of player and he had pretty decent first half but something something happened in the second half I guess put your finger on it hey I I think look in Jeff in particular um je like I said he’s an extremely talented hockey player he’s done played over thousand games in this league and scored a lot of goals he’s he’s clearly you know an elite offensive player I’m not sure exactly what I could say is it wasn’t you know anything with negative in terms of his personal gain I think we all as a team we didn’t perform well enough and then there you know how does that affect individuals um I just go back to this like we didn’t we underperformed last year as a group you have to make hard decisions you know up and down your lineup we have to figure out ways to get better and that’s every decision we make this offseason with that in mind and that’ll be you know part of this process we go through a Jeff how do you and the pro scouting Staff feel about the market in terms of Center for what you’re looking at the role that you want whether it be free agency or trade yeah the uh I mean it’s a it’s a position that’s uh in demand I mean and we fully it’s a great question ask because as you build out your team I me you’re talking about this in amateur amateur scouting meetings if you have two players next to each other and one’s a Winger one’s a center you’re gonna you’re going to lean towards the center they’re more just harder to acquire more valuable centers can usually flip the wing you know so you take all those things into consideration it’s harder for wings to flip Center um it’s uh it’s an area that is not easy to acquire and we talked a lot about that before we made the Casey midat trade you know to be honest with you we felt that that if we trade Casey midd stat we’re going to be in a position where okay where are we up the middle we we do I do get excited about um pyton krebs’s game where he where we believe he can get to we have prospects in her system but we also want to figure out how we’re a better team now so you know we’re kind of balancing that and um but it’s a good question because there’s not there’s not a lot of centers out there is there somebody that you won’t give a qualifying offer to and I’ll includ Stillman and clay in also uh guys they were the two uh yeah I don’t want to get into specific sign you know I want to make sure I have some conversations you know with players specifically but um I don’t think anyone would be surprised kind of you know where we’re at or what we’re going to do there changed everything I mean it’s the no move is um of something that there not that many players have in this league and they’ve earned it or they wouldn’t get to that spot um so it you know it changes everything because it doesn’t matter how many conversations I I could potentially be having with another team and I a trade that I could potentially be excited about that other team could be excited about player with a no move isn’t excited it’s not happening so um it’s a completely different scenario than any other type of situation um even if you had a player with limited you know no trade protection you still may have conversations um you’re just focusing on certain teams for you in the last month or two just you’ve been aggressive in the past but you haven’t maybe been aggressive building the team I guess maybe this way so this is different for you just what’s it been like for you and your staff to kind of tackle something a little different yeah say uh it’s a great question I I it feels very different this year in terms of um how we’re looking at the phase we’re in I guess is the best way to say it uh I feel that the last three years that the draft was so much about making sure that we were building our our our pipeline up and by Prospect pool and putting ourselves in a position to have Assets in our organization meanwhile trying to do your best to look for trades and what options are out there to help your team um and they always going to do that you always have to have prospects and a funnel of of players in your system but um it has flipped in the sense that um we need to take a step we need to we need to be a team that’s competitive getting um in the playoffs and fighting for those those um opportunities to do what we all want to do here which is win a Stanley Cup so um we’re willing to look at everything and anything that we feel um makes us better and I think you always in this job are going to do that but just with now that we’ve built up the assets and the opportunities um we’re actively trying um and you know in saying that you have to be disciplined and smart you’re not just going to move assets to move them it has to make sense for you there any of those prospects you’ve told teams aren’t available oh that’s yeah I I don’t typically um just take things off the table I’d rather um have conversations and you can always say no um are there internally uh certain players that we’d be very unlikely to move of course um especially you know when you’re talking about prospects in particular um you know one thing that probably doesn’t get talked enough about is when you become a team that’s that’s getting right up to the cap the players and entry level contracts that can help you um really become valuable I mean just look at you know Florida with you know a guy like lendell plays a big role and those so that really matters um we’re not there yet we need to get we need to get better but I see with the where our roster is going and the salaries and so the extensions kicking in we’re inching there um so we just have to be mindful of that there’s a lot of about well I’d prefer it not to be all over the media um start with that um so um what was a question uh uh yeah you know what it’s you have conversations um and and you would prefer that they they stayed between um you the two teams if you’re talking but you can’t control that it doesn’t change how you do things um and you know look it’s no secret we’re trying to do every possible thing we can to improve our team and I guess the good news is if uh we’re we’re rumored in a few things um there’s a ton more that we’re not in um being rumored in but that we’re in you know we’re we’re trying to make sure that we’re in every possible conversation um out there which is uh which is right why this phone is ringing a lot this time of year so I think it’s a good thing but yeah it’s uh not my preference to have it known to the world uh well I dealt with this a lot um with the Jack EO situation and because it was so much sensitive information and um so it’s it’s something that you kind of monitor but um no you have to you can’t let stuff that’s going on or or noise you know distract you from what you’re trying to do but um there’s certainly some phone calls after that that you have if you are going to trade significant future assets whether it be prosp Earth picks would you like it would you prefer it be a player who’s inching toward their Prime that you would have the ability to have years of control whether it be somebody who’s an RFA or yeah I mean in a vacuum yes you know like in a perfect world you’re looking for that type of asset that can grow with your team that’s why going back to Bo bym is such a tough trade and but a critical trade because you’re feel like you’re acquiring a player in their Prime that can grow with you now in saying that even with the assets we have and the Deep Prospect what we have um those players generally aren’t available even if you’re willing to overpay um so but you’re still having those conversation and making sure yeah so like for me I’d rather if we’re going to move big assets you’d certainly rather do it with a player that um you feel is going to be with you than more for more than just a short time um but you know you kind of balance everything and like I’ve said to you guys before then you’ll really look at Cost acquisition um in terms of when then they’re what they’re doing in your lineup or you’re projecting where Lindy sees that he might use them and then you kind of make that decision talking about all the conversations and phone calls that you’ve been in um the deal today how long was that in the works uh long yeah I don’t remember when the lottery was um probably few a couple months ago now I don’t know may maybe um but quickly after that just making sure you’re we’re doing our homework um you’re talking to every team around you we talked to we’ve talked to every team in front of us behind us just to lay the the framework of what a deal could look like if you’re if you’re going to get there um so quite a while um and then and then it’s when you get to the point of where it makes sense for both teams then it’s you know when do you do it and today was the day yeah I mean I um I was really happy for Kyle poo uh you know in two ways on a personal level I believe um he gave a lot to the Buffalo Savers organization that will benefit our guys for years to come and what I mean by that is I remember when Ron Francis sat on one side you had Eric stall and then you had rod bamore and I remember thinking about like what Eric St St was learning at 18 years old from Ron Francis and Ron brenmar and Eric stall went on to play whatever 20 years or close to 20 years in the NHL and those so what Kyle poo was able to do in his time in our organization I mean I can give you 10 to 15 names but you know him already but all those young guys in our lineup for the last two three years um he made an impact on so that’s that’s a big deal and then from just personal with him um he just seeing him be able to ra up and um have that opportunity I’m fortunate enough to know how special a feeling that is and um yeah I was I was happy for him and I was also happy that um you know we got a little better putb I’m sure every team draft might be wildly different from one team to another how would you assess the depth maybe you know 12 13 going through the end of the draft I you be some you know names dropping through the draft that in another year you wouldn’t yeah it’s a good question I don’t know if I’d say it that way I think just the history of the draft is there’s always risers and fallers guys that fall I don’t know fallers a word um but there there’s just always uh there always is and that’s why I think I started by saying I this draft in particular feels like after six or seven you get to a really wide range it’s going to be team preference um could be a million different things of what the order goes through why different teams have it the way but that also really gets into that second round um you know you get into the top 45 and we really like the players that are there so that was part of our process but yeah it’s hard you know it’s you can go back and review drafts you know in a while and have a better answer to that but I just think it’s the nature of this draft and why the amateur Scouts have challenging jobs it’s not easy what did last summer last teach you about what it’s going to take to get yourself you over the edge well I think you have to start with core and if you don’t know what you’re trying to build and why you’re trying to build it and then you’re just going to make moves to make moves so last summer we had a group of players that we started to get feel really really good about is our core and trying to you know say okay even from the go TI though where are we we believe in these young guys let’s let’s keep pushing them can they take steps and then you look at the decor and you say okay I really like the pieces that we have but could we add another top four to this group um that was a you know something we a box we wanted to check which fortunately we were able to do up front I like the fact that you have Thompson and Tuck up the middle um that gives you a true you know one or sorry Thompson czy up the middle it gives you a true onew punt you know what I mean so you know as you look at that then you say how do we make sure from a depth perspective that we’re we’re making sure we’re balanced um some of that comes from Rochester some of that comes from um whether it’s trades free agents or other things you’re adding to your roster I’d like to see us get a little bit um you know harder to play against I’d like to see us have a little more um physicality especially lower down in our you know either lower on our depth or you know in that bottom uh three three four group in our forward lines um and then lastly I think you just want to see guys that maybe have some versatility that can bump up your lineup if you have injuries um even if it’s for a short time have versatility that they could kill penalties or be powerful you know what I mean you’re just having that balance so it’s a long way of saying I don’t know if I learned that last summer you you kind of just know in this league that you have to have a lot of you have to have a lot of dep you have to have people buying into their roles and then you have to make sure that in saying all of that that your players completely aligned with the coach in the way that you’re you’re expecting to be to be playing every night and I I personally use the words like non-negotiables there has to be non-negotiables between the coaching staff and the players that everybody’s buying into and I think that’s one of the things I’m most excited where Lindy will have that Clarity for our guys um and we’ll attack Camp so it’s um it’s an exciting time this is an important week right now um for our organization and um you know and then and then it’ll be nice to kind of say um man let’s get training camp going and play some hockey and uh it’ll be here quick thank you thank you

GM Kevyn Adams spoke with the media ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft on June 28. He talked about his ideal structure for the team, his recent trade with the San Jose Sharks, what he’s looking to accomplish at the Draft, and more.

Subscribe to the Buffalo Sabres YT Channel: https://bit.ly/2G1G8eT
For More Sabres Action: https://bufsabres.co/2XAYg5m

#BuffaloSabres #Sabres #NHL

For more Sabres action: Sabres.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/BuffaloSabres
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/buffalosabres
Follow us on Instagram: Instagram.com/buffalosabres