Following the completion of Buffalo Sabres locker cleanout and GM Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff speaking with the media for nearly an hour on Saturday, the disposition of the club and some of the principles responsible for their 14th consecutive non-playoff season is still up in the air.

Adams made it clear that Ruff will be back next season, but Terry Pegula will determine whether his role will be the same when the Sabres staff meets with him soon. Speculation regarding Adams's future began to percolate after a weekend report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman stated there would be changes in the club’s front office.

Associate GM Jason Karmanos has been with the club since April 2021, Assistant GM Mark Jakubowski has served in various roles since 2014, and Jerry Forton (who was promoted from Director of Amateur Scouting to Assistant GM last June) and Friedman indicated that some may be let go.

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“We want to get better. We’ll look at everything. We’ll have meetings with Terry coming in the very near future where we’ll, as we typically do after a season, review everything, talk about the roster, talk about everything in the organization, hockey operations. Where can we improve? What do we need to focus on? And we’ll make any decision we need to make to help us get better.” Adams said. “I talk to Terry every day. He’s as frustrated as I am with the way the season went and where we are. Certainly, he’ll be asking me a lot of hard questions: Why we are where we are, and where we go from here.”

One possibility is either Adams being moved into a Team President role and a new GM being hired, or someone from outside the organization being brought in to oversee Adams, which is a structure that has gained popularity in the NHL over recent years.

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