It appears the dominos have begun to fall in the Sabres front office. The team announced Wednesday that Eric Staal has been hired as special assistant to the general manager, marking the first change in the team’s front office of the offseason.
There was an expectation that some changes would hit the Sabres front office after yet another year without playoff hockey, but the hiring of Staal and additional reporting on Wednesday suggests Kevyn Adams will return as the team’s general manager. Whether or not the club adds anyone else around Adams remains to be seen. Some have suggested another hire may be imminent to fill some sort of senior advisor role or position with a similar title, but no announcements have been made at this time. Further to that point, Frank Seravalli reported that there is no clear indication that the Sabres will move forward with that plan. He also added a terrifying tidbit that Seth Appert, lauded mastermind of a 16% power play, may see his influence in roster decisions expand.
Perhaps the most notable news item surrounding the Staal announcement came from Lance Lysowski, who noted that Jason Karmanos may not be back with the Sabres for next season. The news that Karmanos operates as AGM from Pittsburgh made waves when it broke earlier this year, and perhaps that was setting the stage for his eventual departure. It would be fascinating for the Sabres, owners of the longest playoff drought in sports, to part ways with the executive that has helmed the one successful hockey team overseen by the organization.
As it stands now, there is much more unknown than known as it pertains to the front office. Adams will be back as GM and Staal is joining the group, beyond that is anyone’s guess. There is no concrete news on the final decision on an advisor just as there is no final word on what Karmanos’ fate may be. So it’s impossible to offer much more than guesswork on what those additional moves may or may not entail. Or how they will affect the organization. What we know for certain is that Eric Staal is stepping into a new role with the team, his first NHL front office appointment.
Staal’s position appears to be nearly identical to the one Jason Spezza had when he first joined the Maple Leafs staff. Roberto Luongo serves as an advisor in Florida and many other former pros have gotten their feet wet in the management world in similar fashion. It’s an appropriate position for a former player like Staal. He’ll get an opportunity to learn scouting and player development on the fly in a fairly low stakes position where his experience can serve as an asset to Adams and the rest of the staff. I’m not sure how much of his experience was passed on to his teammates during his short time as a Sabre, but I hope that he will have a better opportunity to offer some mentorship to Buffalo’s young core.
It will be worth watching which side of hockey ops Staal leans into. Will he be more adept in player personnel and roster management or will he find a niche in cultivating relationships and serving in a player development role? Spezza was a renowned hockey nerd, whose interest in the finer points of roster management made him a prime candidate for this sort of work once he retired. I’m not sure if the same applies to Staal. Not that it has to, but there was certainly an expectation that Spezza’s future after playing would come in a front office. It doesn’t appear there was as much of an expectation that Staal would follow this path.
Staal’s tenure in Buffalo was not one to remember. He played 32 forgettable games in one of the most hellacious seasons in franchise history. It was reported that the only reason he didn’t have Buffalo on his no trade list was because he never thought a team in their position would have interest in trading for him and he was more than eager to move on when the time came. Time heals and the demands and allure of a front office job are much different than an unexpected trade in the twilight of a career, but it’s hard not to keep his apparent distaste for the area out of your mind when evaluating his hiring.
What hasn’t concerned me much is the consternation over Staal’s qualifications and his relationship with Adams. Neither issue really moves the needle for me. This is a fairly standard practice for former NHLers hoping to carve out a future as an executive. It’s a position that is tailor made for an ex-NHLer who can still impart some direct league knowledge into meetings and evaluations in addition to their general understanding of the league and the game. This is no different than if the team had saved a seat in the boardroom for Jason Pominville or Kyle Okposo upon their retirement. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Staal who reached out to Adams to inquire about a position. If he had the itch to get into management, I’d imagine Adams would have been one of his very first calls. That’s just good networking. Regardless of who made first contact, inserting Staal as an advisor as opposed to a more substantial role in the front office needs to be considered with any critique. There would be far more cause for concern if Staal had been hired as an assistant general manager or in a vice president role of some sort. Giving him a fairly low stakes position that will allow him to gain hands-on experience while offering the front office another point of view is a fine result.
The big question is what comes next for Buffalo’s front office. It’s one thing to hire Staal, who can be a useful voice in his new role, in addition to a more senior addition as has been previously reported. But it is a major red flag if Staal is the only addition made to a front office regime that has missed the playoffs five times and regressed in each of the last two seasons. I have my doubts over how impactful any senior advisor hire will be, but it would be laughable for the organization to come back with virtually the same group for yet another season. Adding a more senior voice wouldn’t just show that the club is acknowledging their shortcomings, but would add credibility and an experienced voice to a front office that badly needs it.
Two in the Box 