Kevyn Adams getting calls about three first-round picks

The Sabres general manager says he's open to anything at July's NHL Draft in Montreal
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Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – July 7-8 in Montréal will be Kevyn Adams' third NHL Draft since becoming the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. It’ll be the first one that he, along with the rest of the NHL, will be on site for after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adams has a total of three first-round picks in the 2022 NHL Draft, which makes him a pretty popular guy right now around the league.

“There are a lot of conversations going on right now, and it’s super unique to have a top-10 pick, a middle first-round pick and a late first-round pick, and have pick 41," said Adams during a 1-on-1 conversation on Tuesday. "So yes, maybe we are popular, but I’ve also made it clear to everyone in the league that we’re open to trying to move up. We’re open to moving back, we’re open to a trade that would involve something unique or different. We’re having all those conversations now, but definitely having three first-round picks puts you in a position where you’re going to be involved in a lot of conversations.”

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Adams drafted four Russian players at last year's draft, but that was before the current war with Ukraine. Adams admits things are different in the world now, so it could affect their thinking.

“Honestly, it has to be a discussion, because you can’t just ignore it. What’s going on in the world is certainly more important than hockey," Adams said. "What I’ve asked our scouts to do is don’t worry about where players are from. Let's put our list together and evaluate them as hockey players, then we can always put a little asterisk of make a decision. So I do think it’s come into play as we go through our list and our order, but what I don’t want to do is miss an opportunity if we think there’s great value.”

Adams didn’t get the chance to draft defenseman Ryan Johnson, as he was taken in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft after Dylan Cozens. Johnson hasn’t made an announcement of his future just yet, but Adams said right after the season that things are pointing to him going back to the University of Minnesota for his senior year.

However, Adams says that Johnson, like Erik Portillo, hasn’t mentioned becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

“He hasn’t said that to us, and I have been very honest and have a very good relationship with his group," he said. "All I’ve said is we like him as a prospect, and if he decides to go back to school because he thinks it’s going to help him, we’re fully supportive of that. But we’d also be happy to have a conversation about having him join our organization, so they have not indicated that.

“I’m sure I’ll get together with his group in Montreal next week and have a little bit more conversation.”

Johnson has been invited to Sabres Development Camp starting July 13, and Adams says he’d be there.

It’s become very evident that Adams' plan for the Sabres is similar to the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Adams says Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said it best after his team clinched things in Game 6.

“They asked him about five years ago when they were in last place and he said, ‘Yeah we were, but I knew we had really good, young players, and we had to stick with it.’," Adams said. "I believe that’s so important. We want to draft well here, we want to develop our own players, and then we need to retain the players that we want to move forward with.

“I really believe that you can make some trades to tweak things and you can add a free agent here and there to round out your group, but ultimately, the strength of your core needs to come from drafting very well.”

It seems like I’m the only one that thinks Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be one of the goalies in Buffalo next year with the Sabres. All I hear from media and others is that he’ll be Rochester’s goalie again next season. Adams wouldn’t tell me the exact plan for Luukkonen.

“I do believe in the progress the 'UPL' made was real," he said. "In his games he played in Buffalo, he gave our team confidence. He was strong, his presence was good.

"He’s had trouble staying healthy over the three years, so that’s the one thing where, how do we make sure he gets the games he needs to keep developing?”

With Devon Levi and Portillo not signing this offseason, the question is, will Adams be open to signing a goalie to a two- or three-year contract? He says he’s absolutely not looking for a goalie with a lot of term on his deal, because he believes in his three young goalies. It seemed, to me, he would be comfortable getting a goalie for maybe two years.

“We’d be open, but I really do feel strongly that ultimately the answers to where we’re headed are internal," Adams said. "I feel really strongly about 'UPL', and Devon Levi, to me, is not just exceptional on the ice, but the way he carries himself, the way he prepares. I get excited there, but I will say you don’t want to rush players either. But we will be open to what that could look like. We want to be really smart on how we put our roster together, and we don’t want to compromise on a longer term that could potentially come back to hurt us.”

During his appearance on the "Howard and Jeremy Show" on Tuesday, Adams said he’s still very interested in Craig Anderson. It seems, to me, that Adams needs to know what Anderson wants to do before free agency opens on July 13, and he agreed.

“He knows, he understands the situation,” Adams said.

Victor Olofsson is a restricted free agent this offseason, but he does have arbitration rights. Adams says he’d like to have a solution before arbitration rolls around.

“It’s a tool that’s part of the process, but we’ve had good communication with [his agent] Claude Lemieux to make sure that he and Victor understand how we feel. We’ll have more talks this week, so things will progress,” he said.

The team announced on Tuesday the return of Sabres Development Camp, which is scheduled for July 13-16. Adams is very excited about it since COVID-19 has wiped it out the past two seasons.

“We’re having everybody come, everybody that’s eligible like Owen Power and [Mattias] Samuelsson, [Peyton] Krebs, [Jack] Quinn and [JJ} Peterka. They’re all going to be there, and I think that’s important from a culture standpoint," Adams said. "It’s less about the on-ice, for me, and it’s more about everybody getting familiar with the organization.”

You can listen to the full interview in the player below:

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06-28 Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams 1-on-1 with Paul Hamilton
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***Photo: Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)

Photo credit Losi and Gangi
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