TSN: Darren Dreger on the struggling Buffalo Sabres and how long can the Sabres believe they can turn things around from within.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I can tell you, the general manager, Kevyn Adams, has been on the phone non-stop. And that sounds like an obvious comment, given you know the situation they’re in and the fact that something does have to change.
And you know, it feels unlikely, I just don’t see it being plausible in-season that Adams is going to be given the full reign to go through another coaching shuffle, right? Like he purposefully brought in Lindy Ruff because he felt like he needed that level of experience and philosophy and structure and all the things I guess he did the things he had in Donnie Granato.
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So it’s going to be trade. The tricky part is Adams is willing to do just about anything. You know, as I’m reminded of almost daily, and checking in with the sabers, yeah, he’ll trade top players, but he wants top players back. And the problem is that the players that are being offered back to Buffalo aren’t top players in the eye of Kevyn Adams. So the fit isn’t there yet, and maybe that changes in the foreseeable future.
But how about Lindy Ruff acknowledging that he’s met with his leaders? They’ve identified their core, and that’s a tricky business, too, right? When you’re struggling to the degree that the sabers have struggled. And his core is Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Mathias Samuelsson.
And I think the quote goes something like, ‘okay, it’s you guys. It’s you guys. I’m handing the puck off to. You’re the guys that have to be the difference makers.’ So he, he, he told media yesterday that he met with that group yesterday, and he’s met with him in the past. So he’s foisting full responsibility onto that group of five or six men.
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And I guess the one thing that I would question is like, do these guys need to be identified to do a better job, to work harder, to play better? I don’t think so, but that kind of speaks to the level of desperation that everybody is feeling in Buffalo.”
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