“We Need To Take That Step This Year” | Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams On NHL Free Agency 2024
what we got the Zucker deal um he’s obviously a guy who’s who scored a lot in this league it’s one year just could you explain just uh what intrigues you about him why you added him yeah I mean he’s a proven uh guy in this League’s played a lot of playoff games you know around 700 games in the regular season been in the league a long time and and he’s a versatile guy he can play up and down the lineup very competitive can play a higher skill game or can play more physical type game if you need um and just felt that uh that was a type of guy we were looking forward to that could be in that mix in that group of nine somewhere um wherever Lindy decides to use him but I just like his package and I like his competitiveness and I like his age of where some experience um I think helps our group are you still trying to add something play in the top six uh yeah I mean I won’t do it’s not like the offseason stops you know it’s there’s ongoing conversations plus you know things the dust settles a littleit bit and you see where different teams are but I really like where our group’s at right now um I like it a lot I like the look of our team um we had we had goals coming to this offseason what we were trying to achieve um and I think we’re we’re a much better team uh today than we were a couple days ago how do you feel about the bottom with the group of guys that you added to the day and do you see is some you play center yep yep so you know when you look when you look at the offseason you know kind of what we were looking to accomplish we wanted to be harder to play again we wanted to have bring in more physicality uh more identity kind of into that bottom six we wanted to be a team that wears teams out that can be relentless um you know on the four check and hard um and we want to be a team that’s better resp you know more responsible defensively so when you look at the additions that we we’ve you know brought in over the last few days now starting with malinin um guys like malen Stein and a Cabell that are that are that hit hard they’re physical I mean I think all three of those with laferty had more more hits than you know any other of our forwards in in um last year so they have an element um laferty is a really really likable player you know I I I I I kind of describe him as he’s a winning hockey player plays center or Wing comfortable either way um good penalty Killer really good speed and size you know it’s six foot um can skate and just a disruptive player and you know he scored 13 goals last year can chip in offensively but I like his versatility um you know the plan going in signing him was uh the thought of him playing Center um but you know if we need to move him to the wing we can do that too Gilbert’s a guy you know a lot of people here are obviously familiar with I mean does he I mean you want him to serve that seventh a defenseman maybe I mean do you envision him here yep yep G Gibby’s a guy that um you know just I’ve known over the years obviously and just from him being from here and watched him develop I I think he’s turned himself into last year he really took a big step and turned himself into an HL defenseman he knows what he needs to do to play in this league he’s big strong kid who’s very very competitive and continues to work on his game to get better he’s not afraid to fight um he’s done that a number of times he’s um he he competes hard you know so we again another guy that you’re bringing in some size physicality we don’t have a lot of that on our back end um you know and and we have size but not as much after Samy you know not as much of that heavy heavy game that he brings so um you know when I look at our group now um we have a lot of skill we have a lot of talent I think we’ve proven in this league over the last couple years that we have guys that can um as talented as anyone and make plays we needed to round the group out we needed to get harder we needed to just have a little more um of a of a presence where we can go after teams and roll over and over and just become that tougher team to play against and um the skill is exciting and great but we just needed to kind of get the mix a little bit better and that was why we were so you know focused on that we need to be better defensively so those are the areas that we’ll that we’ll talk about as we get into training camp is a guy that you’re I mean you have to resign him still obviously but is he a guy that you’re looking at as maybe being being a third third line Center and how’s that role is that going to change all under Lindy well yeah I mean I think pyton Krebs is someone that he’s still a young player you’ve heard me talk about this um you know I think he showed a lot of signs over the last uh year of starting to um understand the defensive side of the game he’s a very very competitive kid um he’s getting better and better like in different areas he he’s got great vision he has offensive skill we know that from you know his track record you know before we traded for him and now he’s still going to find his way I think there’s a chance for him the upside of being a player that can play higher up the lineup whether that’s as a center which we believe he is or maybe eventually could he slide to the wing yeah like we’re open to that um but what I really like now is we have a group of players that Lindy and the coaching staff can kind of decide how they want to put the lines together you know you we have some high-end skill that we feel is is um that can play against anyone in the league when it comes to the skill and now we have some physicality and compete um and some more veteran players that I think really give Lindy some you know ability to move things around a little bit understanding that just added five players in the last three days where is it right now organization trying to recruit players I mean the first thing I’m sure most guys say to you is you haven’t made the playoffs in 13 years in a row how difficult is it to even get in the room with certain guys yeah I mean I think there’s some things with that Mike that for sure um you look for players that uh want to win you know so it’s a natural question where do I fit am I going to win in the place that I’m I’m going if they have the choice if they’re unrestricted free agents so yeah that matters but but you know I want players to want to be here and players that give me a quick I’m not sure I want to be a saber because of whatever then we move on to the next I don’t even give it a second thought um but yeah it doesn’t even really phase me in terms of any of those that type of stuff but yeah of course there’s always going to be part of that um we have to hold up our of the bargain here and win win more hockey games become a playoff team that’s year after year there um but we’re we’re on that we’re on that Journey now you know and that’s that’s where we need to take a step and we need to do it this year guys were 23rd in the league and goals per game last year you lose Jeff Victor signs elsewhere and you guys added players today but I mean zucker’s had won 12 plus goal season in the last several years where do you see the goals coming from this yeah like I said I mean hey like every team you want to score more and I think some of that can be just uh internally can guys take a big step and have a have a bigger offensive year um I I’m not concerned about our talent or skill level or our ability to score goals I I believe we have that in our room um we needed to be a team that just um that the roster rounded out and makes more sense and matchups and all these things and you know and like in Jeff like you know when you make these decisions um when you kind of got in a spot where he was not going to be on your top line and playing top power play a minutes or minutes in general you have to make hard decisions and um that’s the kind of the internal debate that we had and when you’re looking at the cap and all the different things you’re juggling um you know that’s that’s why we ended up making the decision but I’m I’m not I’m honestly Lance we we have talent on that on that roster we need to play we need to play sharper we need to play more consistent we need to be more competitive um and I’m not I’m not concerned on the offensive part for years you you s D’s Dan’s input with the roster I mean what what did you ask Lindy I mean how much input does he have on this roster I guess a huge amount of input I mean I’m you just I believe the best way to run an organization is to be collaborative um I just think that if me personally or you know someone is just making decisions independently um you can put yourself in some bad places you know and of course it’s my job ultimately to make the final decision um on certain things but I’m always bouncing ideas off of him and and having him help me hey what what do you see what is our need you know you’re the one standing behind the bench game one you know what do you when you look at our group what do you need and that’s where we really like I told you a couple months ago when we did the press conference wanted to get Lindy on board as fast as possible um once we decided that was a decision because we had so much work to do to get to today and I needed his input and understanding the roster and what he thought we needed so yeah we we’re in it together I mean myself Lindy the other coaches are involved in conversations obviously you have Jason Mark and Jerry and I mean Scouts I mean it’s just my style but um and then you know I taken all the information uh I listen I hear I even hear the the Sam’s perspective just from a pure number standpoint at times just to just to gather it all and then you know I need to be the one to make final decisions Kev you still have a signicant amount salary space regardless of what you do with your rfas how do you plan on using that in weaponizing uh yeah I mean I I’ve probably said this before to you guys I don’t get overly caught up in like are you spending to the cap or not you’re doing you’re putting your roster together to win and that’s that’s our Focus um um obviously when you look at contracts that are coming into the future you have to plan or you can get yourself in a really bad spot so we understand that the first wave of of a lot of our players a core players we’ve signed um those extensions some of those are kicking in this year um this upcoming season and then there’s another group coming you know so you’re you’re planning today but you’re also having to plan out the roster over time um to make sure you’re staying um you know as competitive as you can for the longest amount of time that’s the whole goal here how much of your plan this offse is faking in the hope that guys will just frankly play better next season than they did this past uh yeah it’s a good it’s an interesting way to put it um you don’t just hope you know like you have to have you have to have some thought and substance to what you’re what you’re trying to do and um after a lot of conversations with the players with different coaches and certainly as we got Lindy on board there’s a belief I’d say is the better word that um the Tage Thompsons of the world and Alex tuck and Dylan cousins and Jack Quinn and these players are going to take steps um to improve their own individual game some of it may be just because of their own game some of it may be the way we’re going to play and just the predictability and playing a little bit of a faster more direct game um you know that’s something that we’ve talked a lot about and I think our players will benefit from so yeah and then you want guys to the JJ pkus had a great year last year from an individual standpoint you want him to elevate and get better so um that’s all part of it but um yeah I mean I think those are the those are the conversations you’re having every day over the last couple months as you kind of try to put the pieces in place and the plan is um when you enter free agency or the draft you know looking to make trades there’s so much talk Kevin about state taxes last couple of Da Cup champions I’m curious when it comes to New York State when when you guys this may be falling into Mark’s point you know you know perspective whatever but how is that a um ever a factor when you’re in negotiations well if you can get New York state to go taxfree I’m in um I think it would help our roster and I’ll be up for that too I’m good with that um yeah I mean it’s just a reality of yeah I don’t you focus on what you can control and that’s what I believe do those teams in in those states have advantages of course um but you know I don’t I don’t know I guess for me um you you you try to to focus your attention on building an organization the right way where people recognize that and say that’s a culture that’s a place that I want to play and that trumps everything in my mind you know and if there’s players that just flat out don’t want to be in cold weather don’t want be in a state that has higher taxes then they’re probably not for us anyways you talk about you know cap numbers and such I mean do you agree with the notion I mean a lot of people would say you’re not winning if you have $20 million to spend they don’t spend that teams do get close to the cap are the winning teams I what’s your response to that you might have that amount of space it’s not over the offseason more you see my point well yeah I mean I think part of it is um when you have some younger players though there’s just going to be naturally some different cap numbers players on entry level um I’m pretty sure after this year Jack Quinn JJ pkin just to use the two that are on Entry levels their their contract numbers going to look different so you know I don’t that’s what I’m saying we’re trying to build a team I don’t get overly focused on exactly what what that looks like today like why are they going to spend the cap or not the cap we’re going to put the best team we can possibly put on the ice yeah you can go get other guys and contracts that you may regret too and then you’re trying to figure out like how do I get out of this you know that’s what we’re trying to avoid we’re trying to build this the right way um with discipline but also we recognize this team needs to win um I understand that and that’s that’s what we’re that’s why we focused our attention to what I told you in the beginning is how we were looking to improve in the off season this year and which I think we’ve we’ve done so far trade talks that were going on you know once the draft ended you said you had some stuff you know maybe kicking around does that get parked like for a couple days with this or is that still a little bit there’s still some dialogue going back and forth I mean I know there’s a lot of rumors out there I’ve been probably in the middle of every conversation you can be in so I’m sure we’re attached to a lot of rumors I mean some of the ones that people were so convinced that um you know we didn’t want to pay enough for a player or whatever I don’t think the player got traded sometimes the other team might just not want to trade a player that’s part of it Sig but I just to have a guy that’s raised the cup over his head what does that mean yeah it’s big I just there’s no way to um there’s no way to manufacture that you know when you win the Stanley Cup and you get to raise that cup over your head it’s real and there’s something that once you’ve done it everybody in the room when you walk in the locker room every every single player knows you’ve done it and just that experience that that feeling of this is what it takes to do it is is really important um and that’s something we identified too you know I mentioned that about Zucker playing a lot of playoff games you know winning a lot in this league I mean just those experiences for the young group that we still have because I I’ve told you guys young is no longer an excuse that that we had to be young for a while to do that we’re still young relative in age um but our guys are more experienced now and then you can just add those guys in that have had a little bit more of that taste of it um and know just that little bit more What It Takes um I think it’s really valuable for our group you to talk about Z about z um yeah I I I try to talk to some of these things happen fast and um you know I I have to be a little careful because if there’s if there was say a uh a guy we were targeting at noon um I may not want anyone to know about it until afternoon so um I’m always careful but I’m always picking our guys brains on stuff like this like who played with who or this guy I heard trained um with this player and you know what’s he like is he is he actually work hard or is he just pretend you know so those are those are things I’m always asking our players I think players are a great resource um you know just of information for that did he inform you signing he didn’t um we spoke last night again late and he knows that um you know we’ve we’ve put an offer on the table that um he didn’t accept but I haven’t heard unless it’s happened here recently that he signed anywhere so um but no I haven’t got a phone call to say that he’s he’s not coming back but hey you get to this point um where he’s earned it in his career you want to see what’s out there and I totally respect that you mentioned that you know guys hesitant about coming Buffalo sometimes it’s just a you quickly move on is there a a sales pitch that happens there do do you try to push back on that or is being in Buffalo like wanting to be in Buffalo that well I think the yeah I mean of course like anytime you’re recruiting a player um there’s always I I I hate to use the that phrase like sales pitch it’s it’s it’s more of a conversation of of here’s what we’re trying to do in Buffalo and here’s why and here’s the people um from Lindy Ruff and you know what I mean you’re just you’re explaining the philosophy um and then you know if I guess that’s what I mean you’re never going to just say okay I’m moving on because this you know they might not want to be in Buffalo you’re going to at least try to understand help them understand what the the great parts of this city are away from the rink and all the all the different parts of being a saber and what that means um so yeah you’re always you’re always having those conversations but I guess what my point is is like you can’t spin your wheels and if if there’s players that don’t want to be here because it’s just not you know that’s not what they feel is right for them then you move on team like you said there some teams that haven tra players they Circle back are you still y oh yeah yeah I mean every day like there there’s there’s no hard stop to what we’re trying to do like we will do anything that we feel um helps our team get better helps the roster get better and there’s conversations we’ve had that yeah maybe the team said hey we’ll park it for a while and um let them get through this time and see where you know all the dust settles but yeah I’m always willing to do whatever we we need to do uh to improve and that could mean um that could mean a lot of different things that could mean just you know players that we currently have are we looking to do something or is that is that prospects to make our you know our team better yeah wide open um but in saying all that um it has to make sense you know and like we’ve built a deep Prospect pool but you don’t just give prospects away especially top prospects it has to make sense it has to it has to be something back that going to make your team better or help your organization you know or why why would you do that so but always open to those conversations what’s the strategy now for I mean lots of guys have signed already but what’s the what’s the plan ahead now for for to patching things up in Buffalo or Rochester yeah I mean just continue like there there was a lot Jason caros was was working extremely hard this afternoon you’re making sure that we’re we’re getting depth and uh the organization through Rochester and the different signings which we’ll continue to do um yeah I mean just making sure you’re staying plugged in to what you know what’s going on um sometimes there’s things that happen where maybe a team ended up getting players they they may not have anticipated and then there’s someone on the roster that’s you know going to end up being um available that maybe wasn’t a week ago so yeah M the conversations stay um ongoing but in saying all that I really like the steps we took today I think we I think we took a big step towards being being the type of team that we need to be harder to play against direct fast physical um wearing teams down in your face and then Lindy’s going and the coaches are going to do the rest in terms of how we play with structure the defensive responsibility the non-negotiables that you know our players talked about accountability at the end of the year they’re going to have accountability I promise you and this is going to be you know a big a big exciting time for these guys coming into Camp to say it’s it’s it’s time now and I and I get excited about that so we’re going to we’re going to continue to look at things but um I like where our roster is development we know obviously with Memorial Cup any injuries guys missing uh cohane I think is the one injured um I might be yes I I watched today’s but um little out of the loop with everything going on but you know it did hit me today a couple things um it was exciting to see our guys that we just drafted and and you know in in in the saber colors um couple things though like I started talking to Terry pagul about this I think we were 12 13 14 top prospects aren’t here and that’s our choice you know either guys that played deep into the Memorial Cup or that were in Rochester number of first round picks second round picks we made a decision as an organization not to disrupt their training and just kind of where we are based on how long they played so that’s that’s why we made that decision um but I you know I like the group of kids that we have here and the other thing to hit me Mike about development camp that I thought was really cool was um I think there were six uh six Junior saber kids out there today former Junior Sabers and you know I give Patrick Keta and Sean Wallace and Larry pleer and the guys that have done a lot of work over at Harbor Center Credit like it’s pretty cool to see um I think about Charlie Mandola 10 years ago um next door and talking about hey it would be pretty cool if if over time this junior saber and Academy hockey were built up where players are coming out of here and end up in saber uniforms so it was kind of neat today just to see I think that’s a pretty cool thing to have six uh six former Junior Savers out there you think yeah I think he could play anywhere all the way up to you know whatever Lindy wants to do and I think that was the probably one of the biggest reasons um besides the stuff I mentioned about the competitiveness and track record and all the success and experience his ability to play anywhere in our lineup I think is critical um in in style you know he can he’s played plenty with top skill guys or he could play more of that hard checking role so that’s something a big thing um before we we got into the conversations today that I had checked off with Lindy like how would you utilize Jason what do you think his best attributes are can you see him with fitting with this line or this line and his answer was I I see him really fitting with any line um and that’s what I was hoping to give Lindy is the ability to mix and match okay have a great day everyone
Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams spoke with the media on the first day of 2024 NHL Free Agency. He talked about signing Jason Zucker, Sam Lafferty, Dennis Gilbert, where he sees Peyton Krebs in the lineup, recruiting players to Buffalo, and more.
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