Ruff Times in Adams’ Family
1. Let’s Talk Lindy
I will get straight to it. Hiring Lindy Ruff back as Buffalo’s head coach has not worked out. The team is on pace to finish about 8-10 points lower in the standings than last year. (84 last season) That 84 point total was 7 points off from Buffalo’s 91 points the year before that. A steady decline since missing the playoffs by a point. The falloff from 91 to 84 got Don Granato fired. But a projected 8-10 point drop probably won’t get Ruff canned as he still has another year on his contract. He also hasn’t even been on the job a full year. So what do the Sabres do here? Keeping Lindy through one more season of his contract probably won’t move the needle much. I have to imagine the Sabres are better next year but probably not enough for the playoffs under Ruff. Lindy has not connected with this group thus far and another season with him is wasted time.
So why would Buffalo keep him on? I believe the plan was for Ruff to at least right this ship and leave the team in good hands. I think the Sabres like assistant coach Seth Appert and the plan for him is to succeed Lindy. Appert did a pretty decent job with a very talented roster in Rochester but he also runs the Sabres inept power play. He has zero NHL head coaching experience as well and is a no name among the larger hockey world. I have to tell you, if we as fans are just waiting around for Seth Appert’s eventual promotion to head coach, somebody smother me with James Reimer’s game worn hockey pants right now. This plan does not inspire confidence at all and pretty much guarantees another lost season with Lindy. All before we even get to the underwhelming Appert.
I seriously doubt Ruff is fired here, even after this horrific season. Lindy will finish his two year deal and rack up as many wins as he can. I don’t see another head coach opportunity at his age so this is probably it for him. This is not in the best interest of the Buffalo Sabres for year two of Ruff. There is a high probability the team falls short again with Lindy behind the bench as we inch towards an Appert succession. Unless… an idea is put to task…
The only scenario I see for Ruff being removed from behind the bench is if him and his salary are “promoted” to President of Hockey Ops for next season. I don’t see Ruff quiting, I don’t see him being fired after just one year with another year on his contract. This would be an easy way for Buffalo to save face with his hiring and kill two birds with one stone. A promotion. This lateral move would be totally up to Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula. He needs to finally relent and hire an experienced hockey mind in upper management. Terry needs to get over the Pat LaFontaine fiasco and do the right thing. Now, if I am being honest, Ruff isn’t my first choice here. But he would be more than satisfactory in the position. He does have decades of hockey knowledge and he is already tight with Terry. Just having a decent person in the position would be an improvement over nobody having that job. It would be an easy transition for Ruff and a great excuse to find a new experienced coach. (not one past his prime though) It would get Lindy out from behind the bench and fill a team need. And we would finally have a middle man between Pegula and our GM, no matter who that is. By the way, the new coach brings his own new staff with him. Appert can be reassigned to another position within the team but not within the main coaching ranks. Everyone else is gone. I’m speaking to you specifically Matt Ellis and Marty Wilford. I feel this move would be best for the team and should accelerate a return to the playoffs.
2. Dealing Within the Division
Today the Buffalo Sabres play in the Atlantic Division. They used to occupy a spot in the old Adams Division for years. Since he was hired, it feels more like the Kevyn Adams’ Division, since he likes dealing with our closest rivals. He has done this far too often and that has always bothered me with our GM. Unless I really value a player on a rival team, I am going out of my way to trade my players elsewhere. Either the Metro Division or better yet out West where we see them just twice a year. I don’t understand Kevyn’s unusual comfort level dealing with division rivals, moving players that could haunt us many times over.
In fairness, KA has made lots of deals with teams out west (bringing in Tuch/Krebs, Greenway, Byram to name a few) I actually feel he has better results dealing with the Western Conference. But this deadline, he once again went back to moving players within the division. Cozens to Ottawa and Joker to Boston. I don’t know if Adams is more comfortable with these teams because we see them more often? Maybe he is more familiar with the players he seeks in return? Or perhaps he is more friendly with GMs within our division? Or do our division rivals have the most recognition identifying the under performing talent we have? Trying to pluck them them away for peanuts. Taking advantage of the Sabres while we are down. Adams may settle on these deals because the Bruins and Panthers of the world are the most persistent in acquiring our players. They know first hand what talent the Sabres have.
Maybe the real issue is not the volume of trades within the division but the impact those moves have had. Adams pretty much put Florida over the top with 3 separate deals. Sam Reinhart for Levi and Kulich. Brandon Montour for a 3rd. Kyle Okposo for a 5th. Those three players were instrumental in the Panthers winning the Cup and there is no denying that. Moving on to Boston, Adams admittedly was handcuffed with Taylor Hall. But if that is the case, DON’T do the deal. Don’t give Hall and Boston the satisfaction. I’d prefer Hall played out the year with us and walked unless he accepted a move elsewhere. Instead we dealt him to a rival team and he hurt us for years. Hall scored on Buffalo routinely in his time with Boston, game after game after game. More so, we gave up Curtis Lazar in that deal, a decent hockey player. What did we get for years of Hall tormenting us? A few seasons of Anders Bjork Bjork Bjork and Aleksandr Kisakov, who will never play for the Sabres.
How will the Cozens and Joker deals fare? Who knows what our former defender will do. I imagine he does sign a deal with the Bruins. Or perhaps he signs with Florida or Tampa just to remind us he is still out there. Cozens is in Ottawa for the long haul, so I’m sure he does damage on us for years to come. I’m still perplexed as to why Kevyn Adams is comfortable doing these Atlantic division deals. Especially because they have been some of his most notoriously poor trades. Levi and Kulich could balance that deal out some day but holy hell, has it been one sided so far. The Hall trade aged poorly and the impact was a negative. From my perspective, you don’t make these moves. With my GM cap on, same division trades would be a rarity. How long will Dylan Cozens torment us? Longer than Adams will be here, I’m sure. Hopefully Josh Norris sticks it to Ottawa right back. If Adams survives this summer, please no more Atlantic division deals. There are a plenty of good players out there elsewhere. Ship ours as far away as possible.