Earlier this week, the Sabres added long-time NHL veteran Eric Staal to their front office as a special advisor to GM Kevyn Adams. However, it appears they have some other additions in mind as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that they have been looking to speak to some veteran executives in an effort to shore up or outright reshape their front office.
Seravalli adds that a few different options have been considered. One would see someone hired above Adams while also adding another executive beneath him in the pecking order. Another would simply being to hire a senior executive while a third option would see Adams elevated to a president role and a new general manager being hired.
Adams has been at the helm in Buffalo for the past five seasons and the team has seen its postseason drought extend to 14 straight seasons, tying the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest active playoff drought in major North American pro sports. These past five seasons have also been Adams’ only front office experience so it’s certainly understandable that the team would look to add some experience on that front.
On the managerial side, the Sabres have three people working under Adams, associate GM Jason Karmanos and assistant GMs Jerry Forton and Mark Jakubowski. Of the three, Karmanos is the only one who has worked for an NHL franchise other than Buffalo and Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News relays that Karmanos may not return to the club next season. Forton has been with the team for the past 11 seasons and Jakubowski 12, each serving in various roles along the way.
It appears that the Sabres are at least considering going with a senior advisor, at a minimum. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period notes (Twitter link) that the club approached long-time NHL GMs Ken Holland and Lou Lamoriello about such a role but both indicated they weren’t interested in an advisory position. Whether that’s enough to make the team shift approaches and offer up a more prominent role remains to be seen but it certainly looks like Staal won’t be the only front office addition over the coming weeks and months.
After reading this…it’s easy to see why Buffalo is such a mess since their front office is technically lacking veteran managerial experience lol apparently. Buffalo’s ownership is sorely lacking as they seem more involved with their NFL team the Buffalo Bills than their hockey team as that’s shown based on a number of things with this organization. The Sabres franchise is truly disorganized & ownership should just sell it & get someone to right the ship. I feel sorry for their fans & quite honestly, who could be a fan of this nonsense?…It’s ridiculous as the whole thing is poorly run.
GMTM & GMJB’s running the first 9 years of the 1st rebuild resulted in a 2nd rebuild follow GMKA’S 1st year as GM Buffalo has now been into their 2nd rebuild 4 years after having to start over again. Adams outside of relying on a aged Okposo & average Grigs was Adam’s biggest mistake with getting proper leadership in the locker room. Adams had no above average NHL goaltending when he took over. Bringing in Zucker was a smart move by Adams. Buffalo was about 9 games over .500 outside of their 0-10-3 winless stretch. Zucker was a good voice to have in the locker room this past season. Youngest team in hockey. Deep prospect pool. A lot of under 25yo players on this roster. Ruff is instilling a 2 way game & expecting everyone to play it. Patience.
They can have Rutherford- who’s making Dale Tallon look appealing.
Before going any further, they should remove from their decision-making process whoever decided to approach Holland / Lamouriello.
Hence Buffalo wanted them only for advisory roles.