Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
27th Ranked GM – Kevyn Adams (Buffalo Sabres)
After spending nearly nine months as the Buffalo Sabres Executive Vice-President, Kevyn Adams was promoted to be the team’s general manager. Getting the job in June, he’s now had the role for a year, long enough to make his mark with the club.
The Good – One of the most critical decisions Adams made was identifying that his head coach, Ralph Krueger, was not the right man to have behind the bench. Krueger was in his second season behind the bench with Buffalo where he lasted just 28 games before Adams removed him from the position. Krueger had 6 wins and 18 losses when Adams replaced him with an interim head coach, Don Granato. Last month, Granato shed the interim title and will return next season.
The Ugly – In what was an otherwise bleak season for the Sabres, they had a standout campaign by their goaltender, Linus Ullmark. Before the start of the season, the Swede signed a one-year $2.6M contract to play in Buffalo. Adams mistake was to allow Ullmark to reach free agency without getting anything for him. Now an unrestricted free agent, he will be a valuable player for an organization looking for a stopper. Ideally, Adams would have either signed Ullmark to a contract extension or traded him at the deadline when it was clear that the club wasn’t going to make the playoffs.
The Ugly – In Adams’ short time as the Sabres GM, he signed former first overall draft pick Taylor Hall to a one-year $8M contract. Hall failed to perform to the level of his cap hit. He scored just two goals in the 37 games he played in Buffalo.
Knowing that Hall would walk as an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Adams traded Hall to Boston for a meager return. Hall was traded along with Curtis Lazar for only Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick. Adams also retained half of Hall’s salary.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs hadn’t just traded away a first and fourth-round draft pick for Nick Foligno and the Lightning hadn’t coughed up a first and a third-round pick for David Savard, perhaps the haul Adams managed to acquire would feel suitable. Instead, it falls short of a fair return for Hall.