Two in the Box

Don’t get distracted by the palm trees. That’s not why you should be frustrated with Kevyn Adams’ press conference. 

He’s right, after all. 

Buffalo is not a destination city in the NHL. It hasn’t been for a while. All you need to do is check on the NHLPA player polls over the last 10-plus years to know how NHL players feel about Buffalo. The tax issue has been a favored topic for the league’s talking heads for well over 18 months and it doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. It’s become such a hot button issue that there were discussions at the GM meetings about adjusting the cap to account for different tax situations. It should be no surprise that Buffalo is not a favored destination for much of the NHL and therefore, is placed on most, if not all, no trade clauses. 

Adams’ larger point about drawing players was correct as well. Buffalo will once again become an attractive landing spot if the Sabres become a perennial contender. He was even right to reference the Bills in that regard. Players won’t care where the team plays if it’s good. Perhaps Kevyn and Terry need to take a long hard look in the mirror in that regard. 

Certainly Adams’ messaging could have been better, but it may wind up doing him a favor as so much more attention is being paid to this portion of his press conference as opposed to his reply to questions over the team’s continued lack of cap spending. 

The Sabres have regularly iced a lineup in the bottom third of the league’s total cap expenditure over the last 10 years and sit with a 10% gulf in cap space this season. All of that after the GM said “the time is now” when referring to playoff hopes this summer. Meanwhile, 10 teams in playoff positions as of Friday are in the top half of the league in total cap spending while the Flames are the only team with over $3 million in cap space to hold a playoff position. Yet Adams fell back on a familiar line when pressed on his team’s cap expense. Explaining that it’s his job to keep the team on the right financial footing now and in the future. I’d like to know how that will help if the team fails to be competitive in each and every one of those years he’s trying to plan for. 

One of the most astonishing quotes from Adams was his reference to adding a player with an $8 million cap hit and five more years on his contract. He ended the quote by asking, “What does that do to the next round of guys?”

For one, you’re probably going to be trading some of those guys in order to land a player with that sort of contract. Also, if you’re getting a player who earned an $8 million deal, he’s probably talented enough that you won’t need to be quite as reliant on those “next guys”. 

Funny enough, Jack Eichel had five years left on his contract when Vegas acquired him and that trade seems to be working out pretty well for the Golden Knights. Maybe the Sabres should be a little more proactive when it comes to acquiring proven NHL talent. 

Brady Tkachuk only has four years left on his contract and he makes about $8 million per year. Same with Jordan Kyrou. Do you think they would help? 

Adams has danced around the salary cap question for a while now using future extensions as a key factor in saving space. He continues to lean on that reasoning despite the fact that the cap savings afforded to him by the Jeff Skinner buyout shrinks starting this coming summer. Never mind that the cap is expected to grow to at least $92 million and potentially as high as $97 million. Mike Harrington pressed him on the fact that few, if any, of the extensions he will dole out in July will sniff the upper reaches of an annual cap hit. I can’t see Devon Levi getting much more than his qualifying offer, can you? Maybe if Jack Quinn shoots a puck past a goalie between now and April he’ll command $2 million a year. The cap space becomes more laughable every day it’s left to languish and it’s insulting to fans and media alike when Adams says they’re not going to make a trade just to be able to say they spent to the cap. No one has that expectation. But part of the job is to make the trades that improve your team. It’s also part of the job to sell players and agents on your project.

Buffalo’s roster is not bereft of talent. You have a pair of number one overall picks on defense and a bonafide number one center. The foundation is there to build on. I believe that the Sabres face an uphill battle when it comes to no trade clauses, but there was a time the owner would hop on a helicopter to change a player’s mind. Now we’re left to wonder if he’s hidden the check book altogether. Never mind that there are plenty of players in the NHL without trade protection. Perhaps Adams might consider one of them?

No matter how you cut it, another season hangs in the balance while the team has languished through a five-game skid. The GM didn’t engender much confidence that a solution is forthcoming, but sitting on their mountain of cap space won’t solve their problems either.