Opinion: If Buffalo GM Adams Can't Make Big Moves, The Sabres Need To Fire Him

The Buffalo Sabres have, once again, been a huge disappointment this year. And if GM Kevyn Adams can't pull off major deals by the trade deadline, he should lose his job.

If you were investing in an NHL team's current situation, which teams would you 'buy', 'sell' or 'hold' on?

A couple of years ago, at the NHL’s 2023 trade deadline, the lowly Philadelphia Flyers were unable to do anything with their tradable assets – most notably, with veteran winger James van Riemsdyk, who was a pure rental player that could’ve helped any number of teams. When then-Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher totally whiffed on moving van Riemsdyk, Flyers fans were irate. And only a week after the deadline, Fletcher was fired. Not dealing JVR was clearly the last straw for his tenure running the team, and while Fletcher defended his stance in hanging on to van Riemsdyk, the optics of the situation left ownership with little choice but to dismiss him.

We feel like a similar situation is playing out with the Buffalo Sabres and GM Kevyn Adams heading into this year’s trade deadline. There are more than a few GMs who are facing major pressure to make notable moves by the March 7 deadline, but Adams, in particular, has to move some high-end parts and change up the roster or face some career consequences. If he can’t do that, and the Sabres remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, there will be no justification for Adams keeping his job.

We’re not suggesting Adams make a trade for the sake of making a trade. But after so much losing, this Sabres team is in desperate need of a serious makeover. There can be no more excuses for Buffalo's collection of underachievers. The time for patience with this organization is at an end. The playoffs aren't going to include the Sabres once again this season, so it’s officially time for some core components to be cut up and sold off for a new group of talent. If that can’t happen, and there’s continued roster paralysis courtesy of the highest levels of the Sabres organization, fans will rightly be calling for Adams’ job.

The unfortunate truth is this Sabres team is going nowhere fast, and it’s well past time for Buffalo management to go in a different direction. But, Adams still has one more shot at radically remaking his lineup. That’s why there’s so much pressure on him at the moment. Fans aren’t going to tolerate any empty thoughts or false promises. The customers are close to a total revolt in Western New York, and nothing short of a serious rejigging of the roster is going to satisfy them.

So, the choice is clear for Adams: pull off some trades, or be jettisoned from his position in short order. If he wants to stand pat and go down with the ship, so be it. But long-suffering Sabres fans deserve better than what they’ve been served with up until now.

This has been an era of non-stop disappointment, and if it doesn’t end soon, the ramifications should clear out the brain trust in favor of someone who is going to take the action needed to remove this organization from the dregs of the NHL world. Adams has as much pressure on him as any of his colleagues, and if he fails to make big moves, his time running the Sabres has to come to an end.

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