ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — As the Buffalo Sabres operate out of the Buffalo Bills training facilities this week during the NHL’s decentralized draft, general manager Kevyn Adams and assistant GM Jerry Forton spoke Tuesday morning to discuss the selection meeting and the start of free agency on July 1.
Adams, Forton, and new senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen have a big offseason ahead of them. The Sabres own the ninth pick in the draft, but more eyes will be focused on what the trio does to acquire NHL talent as the franchise works to end its record playoff drought.
Trade winds
Adams said he would have “zero hesitation” about moving pick No. 9 if the return was right and is “open to it more than maybe I’ve been in past years.”
“But I don’t think you want to go into it saying, hey, I’m just moving this pick no matter what,” Adams cautioned. “These are valuable picks. But you’re open to everything. And trust me, the league knows that I’m absolutely open to moving pick nine if it’s the right deal for us.”
Last year, Buffalo moved back three spots from pick No. 11 before selecting Finnish center Konsta Helenius, then swapped a second-round pick for fourth-line winger Beck Malenstyn. Adams later traded 2023 first-round pick Matthew Savoie for center Ryan McLeod, satisfying a desire to dip into the Sabres’ deep prospect pool for NHL-ready reinforcements that could better irrigate the playoff drought.
Forton surmised that similar scenarios could be in play this year — but that circumstances also could compel the Sabres to trade up.
“I’ve seen some people refer to it even as a two-player draft. We don’t quite see it that way,” Buffalo’s director of amateur scouting said. “We see more five, six, seven players, and then maybe a little bit of a drop-off, and a big cluster of players after that. So I guess the intrigue and the nervousness will be how we view the top six ,even to be will one of those be there at nine for us. And could there be a situation where we move up. If we have the pick, do we move up, do move back? If all the players are gone, or if one of them is still available there at seven or eight.”
Should it turn out that there truly is a cliff between the seventh and eighth players selected, that makes it all the more disappointing that the Sabres dropped two spots in the draft lottery.
Decisions to make before free agency
A week away from the start of free agency, the Sabres are already free to negotiate with their own players eligible for restricted free agency — wingers JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn, defenseman Bowen Byram, and McLeod.
Adams declined to discuss the status of those contract talks, or speculation that Peterka has asked to be moved elsewhere.
“I just don’t think it’s fair to the player, to be honest with you, to really even respond to that,” Adams said. “I get memos on my desk every morning from PR of things. If I’m being honest, I feel bad for our fans. The stuff that’s out there, there’s so much misinformation. So much of it’s nonsense.”
Adams did categorically deny that the Sabres have had any conversations about buying out defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.
Meanwhile, another alternate captain, and arguably the most popular Sabre, winger Alex Tuch, becomes eligible for a contract extension July 1.
“He is to me a really important player for us,” Adams said. “He loves Buffalo, wants to be here. That was really clear. And we believe in him and realize what he brings every night. There’s a lot going on right now in terms of the draft and everything going on this time of year. But he understands he’s a priority.”
Front office additions
Adams spoke for the first time publicly about the decisions to bring in Kekalainen, the former Columbus GM, and Eric Staal, a former teammate hired as a special assistant to Adams.
“Jarmo, in my discussions with him leading up to hiring him was, I’m all in and I’m going to be every part of this organization,” Adams said. “He’s going to get involved, add his experience, his perspective. He’s going to be based out of Columbus, which in some ways is great because it’s an NHL city and you get a lot of the pro scouting reports that he can add. But then four-and-a-half-hour drive for him to be in the car and here in Buffalo, and he’ll be here a lot.
“So he has been, in a very short time, a really, really big asset for me, personally, for the whole organization. And my style, in terms of leadership, is collaborative, flat organization where everybody’s got a voice, talk to each other, get in the room, debate, sometimes fight, and come out with what we think’s the right answer for the Buffalo Sabres. Having his 30 years of knowledge is great. But 11 years as general manager is a long time, and a lot of experience in a similar type city to what we have in Buffalo, in terms of smaller market, so home run.”
As far as Staal, being one of the NHL’s top players just a few years ago offers a valuable perspective for the Sabres’ brain trust, Adams said, especially going into free agency.
“We’ve spent a lot of time since we hired Eric, in meetings and conversations,” Adams said. “If he didn’t play with him, he knows someone who did. I’ve always believed this: it’s really valuable to have someone in your hockey operations department to have someone who is fresh off of playing. To have someone like Eric with the Hall of Fame career, he’s done everything you can possibly do in this game, successfully.”
Netminding
Adams reiterated the organizational belief in goaltenders Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi, but did not commit to starting the season with both on the NHL roster.
“I believe in my core that both of them are going to be excellent National Hockey League goaltenders,” Adams said. “I think we need to play better in front of them, defend better, and that’ll help our goaltending.
“We’re open for Devon, and this is not something new to him,” Adams continued. “He and I have had this conversation within the last few weeks I believe in him. The timeline is up to him. He’s a young goaltender still, now he’s got some more experience under his belt that when he’s ready to take the step he will and we’ll be ready for that.
“Do I have a problem if those are our two goalies opening night? Absolutely not. But I’m also going to make sure that we’re smart how we do things and put our team in the best position. So what I guess I’m most excited about is I believe in those two guys.”
***
Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
Digital executive producer Nick Veronica contributed to this report.