What Kevyn Adams' trade history might say about how he'll handle the trade deadline
Since the summer of 2020, the Sabres GM has built a profile of trades and taking a look at them allows for curious speculation
It’s an exciting time of year for the NHL with the trade deadline looming on March 3 and for Buffalo Sabres fans that’s usually been a time of resigned fate.
It signaled the time of year when it was time to say goodbye to a handful of players who would go on to try and win a Stanley Cup somewhere else while they prepared for the NHL draft lottery to come after the regular season concluded. But, as you may have noticed, things are a little different this season.
The Sabres are in the hunt for the wild card along with the likes of the Islanders, Penguins, Capitals, and Panthers. An actual playoff race is something that fans and executives alike have been waiting a long time to experience and those types of battles to the end sometimes require reinforcements.
The Sabres are the new guys on the block that’s also the team with the longest playoff drought in NHL history. Their youthful roster with young players in key roles getting prominent ice time might be able to use some help to get them to the postseason, but preventing some of them from the experience of playing in the playoffs feels counterintuitive to how they’ve handled the roster and lineup all season and Adams said as much last Thursday.
“We will not compromise short-term, today success for the vision in the longer-term,” Adams said. “And the reason I believe in that so much is because we want to set this organization up for sustainable success, year after year, giving yourself a chance to be there.”
Maintaining focus on the present as well as setting up the future is something Adams has been very mindful of during his tenure. He’s also shown he won’t get bullied into making moves, something that made him hold strong when trading Jack Eichel.
When examining Adams’ history of trades, anyone hoping for a spur of the moment, shock blockbuster might catch themselves waiting a long time. Recognizing needs and addressing hard situations
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