Free washer | No palm trees, but high taxes!

The general manager of the Buffalo Sabers, Kevyn Adams, threw a huge stone into the pond last Friday. And he angered the team’s fans, who sang a hymn to his dismissal the next day.

Adams didn’t reveal a big secret when he said Buffalo didn’t have palm trees, just taxes, and wasn’t a popular destination for NHL players.

But his statement goes badly in the current situation of the team, threatened with a 14^e consecutive exclusion from the playoffs, of a 5^e under his reign, with a record of 11-13-3, 2 points ahead of the Canadian.

However, there is nothing shocking about his comments when we listen to his press briefing in its entirety. He is not using the climate and taxes as an excuse to justify the team’s setbacks, as some have interpreted it.

Instead, Adams says that because of the factors listed above, the Sabers need to draft well, develop youth and start winning to earn the respect of players more likely to put Buffalo on the list of teams they wouldn’t want to be on. exchanged.

The Sabers GM was probably reacting to the departure, a few hours earlier, of Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba, holder of a partial no-trade clause, to Anaheim, a club in a situation similar to that of Buffalo.

His statement nevertheless stands out. Especially after Sam Reinhart’s 57 goals last season, scored under the palm trees of Florida…

Reinhart would have liked a long-term agreement with the Sabers when Kevyn Adams arrived in 2020. But he offered him an agreement for only one year. After the team’s disastrous season that winter, and the new administration’s desire to rebuild, the tone of the Reinhart clan changed.

This second overall pick was just 25 years old when he was traded to the Panthers on July 24, 2021. The Sabers acquired a promising goaltender, Devon Levi, and a late first-round pick.

Reinhart is a hit at Sunrise and the fans’ patience is still being tested in Buffalo. Levi has had a rocky start to his career, but he is only 22 years old, and Jiri Kulich, drafted at 28^e rank in 2022 with the choice of the Panthers, shows only 3 points in 18 games on his record, after dominating in the American League.

Levi and Kulich are still very young, but when you have been subjected to three consecutive reconstructions over a period of 15 years, you can have a little shorter fuse…

Kevyn Adams is also responsible for the departure of Jack Eichel, following a medical imbroglio. He too now plays in a place where it is warm and where taxes are more favorable. Adams fared a little better, getting established top-line Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, who finally seems to be warming up at 23 despite still below-expected production, and a first-round pick, Noah Östlund , injured for several weeks during his first tour in America. But Eichel helped the Golden Knights win their first Stanley Cup.

The Sabers GM insisted Friday on the importance of drafting well. The eighth overall pick in 2020, Jack Quinn, now 23, was still out of the lineup when Adams was released, with poor production of five points, including one goal, in 24 games. Quinn was drafted ahead of Marco Rossi, Cole Perfetti, Yaroslav Askarov, Anton Lundell, Seth Jarvis and Kaiden Guhle, among others. Fortunately, second-round pick John Peterka is doing better.

The Sabres’ 2021 first pick, defenseman Owen Power, is well established with the Sabres, logically as the first player drafted overall. But on the 14th^e overall choice, Isak Rosen, offers nothing encouraging at the moment at 21 years old. He is now ahead of him in the hierarchy by players drafted after him.

Matthew Savoie was drafted ninth overall in 2022 by Buffalo. He has already been traded to the Oilers for a mid-training player five years his senior, Ryan McLeod. Savoie was preferred to Pavel Mintyukov and Conor Geekie, already established in the NHL.

Sabres’ 2023 No. 13 pick^e in total, Zach Benson, surprised by reaching the National League at just 18 years old last year. He even got 30 points. It’s a little more difficult for him this winter, but he’s only 19 years old. Still, he’s another smaller forward among the crop of under-6-foot forwards drafted in the first round in recent years.

In short, Kevyn Adams’ plan hasn’t convinced anyone so far. His statements even less so.