Sabres GM Kevyn Adams surveying 'all scenarios' ahead of NHL Draft

Adams willing to make a deal that makes sense for his team while keeping vision for long-term success.

BUFFALO – As a general manager, Kevyn Adams is always having conversations, looking to improve his team and build the organization for long-term success. This year, though, his chats with his counterparts aren’t what they used to be.

“Maybe some of those conversations a year or two ago wouldn’t have made sense,” he said Wednesday.

Things are different now.

The Sabres are on the upswing, shifting from rebuild mode into playoff contender. They finished the season one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

They’ve signed core players to long-term contracts, and Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power could join that club in the coming weeks. Adams and his staff have filled the prospect pool with talent, and they hold another eight picks in the NHL Draft next week.

It’s been part of the plan Adams, who took over as GM three years ago this month, put in place to set the organization up for sustainable success. He’s been particular about staying on the path rather than steering off it in search of a shortcut.

But as the Sabres look to take the next step, there are needs. And while Adams still has his long-term vision in mind, he’s taking everything possible into consideration when it comes to improving his roster.

“My job – and I’ve said this over and over again – is I have to understand the marketplace and understand cost acquisition in all positions and how do we move the needle and push our organization forward,” he said. “So, if you’re acquiring players, you’re going to give up assets, too. That’s just the way this works, so you have to get comfortable with all of that. But what we will not do … is we will not be in a situation where we will panic or we will feel like we have to do something just to do it and end up setting our franchise back longer term.

“Of course, if there’s a way to do something that improves the roster, we’re looking at every single thing. But we’re just not going to chase it, we’re going to – we’re going to come from a position of strength. We feel that we are in a really good spot right now. I like the way our team’s coming together, we want to improve. If deals make sense, then we’re going to look at all scenarios.”

The Sabres have $14.459 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, and 22 NHL players under contract after re-signing Zemgus Girgensons.

There’s a need for a top-four defenseman. There’s the question of whether they’ll run with the young tandem of Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in goal, with Eric Comrie also remains under contract, or seek out an experienced netminder.

“I understand the question about goaltending. It's an extremely important position,” Adams said. “We think about it a lot in our office, like we do all positions. I personally believe we're in a position of strength. When it comes to this, we feel that we have three NHL goaltenders, which is a great thing to have. So, we're open minded. Whether we go into the season with three – it’s not an ideal situation – but we're open minded to it. We'll let it play itself out. But at the same point, I'm not doing my job if I'm not in on every conversation around the league and knowing what's out there and what makes sense … but I'm excited about the goaltending position, to be honest with you, going into the season.”

After three selections in the first round last year, the Sabres have just one this year, at No. 13. There will likely be teams wanting to have conversations about it but don’t expect Adams to give it up.

“I believe that more times than not, it's better to keep your first-round pick and have that and build up your pipeline,” Adams said. “That sustainable success is met by continuing to have that pipeline feeder in your organization. But if we sat and really talked about a situation that came across that we felt was the right thing to help us move closer to winning a Stanley Cup and it involved a first-round pick, then we would do it.”