Kevyn Adams has to decide if Rasmus Dahlin and Sam Reinhart are part of the future for the Buffalo Sabers and for how long.
Buffalo’s new general manager, hired June 16, can re-contract Drafts # 1 and # 2 this off-season if the Sabers believe they can be part of the foundation with Center Jack Eichel.
“For me, our team is important to everyone,” said Adams on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s a great idea to ever speak publicly about certain people and their contract status or what you’re going through. You named players who are very well known and very good players in the National Hockey League. But we look at our roster as a whole and work through every single situation, but not in a vacuum how one person fits into the larger piece of it all. We’re methodical. I’m not dodging the question, I’m just honest that I believe that everyone has priority and that we have to think that way every day. ”
Number 1 in the 2018 NHL draft, Dahlin still has one season left on his entry-level contract and can sign an extension this off-season, as Eichel did prior to the final year of his entry-level contract after being the No. 1 2 selection in the NHL Draft 2015.
Dahlin has scored 40 points (four goals, 36 assists) in 59 games this season, which was cut short due to coronavirus concerns. As a rookie, he scored 44 points (nine goals, 35 assists) in 82 games in 2018/19 and finished third in the Calder Trophy election as rookie of the year.
Video: ANA @ BUF: Dahlin nets wrist shot from a distance for PPG
Dahlin, who turned 20 on April 13, is second in NHL history behind Phil Housley (132), who trained him as a rookie.
Reinhart, who was selected by Buffalo at number 2 in the 2014 NHL Draft, may become a restricted free agent after this season. The 24-year-old center scored at least 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) for the third straight season and has scored more than 20 goals in four of their five full NHL seasons.
Eichel, who led Buffalo for the fourth year in a row with 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) in 68 games, signed an eight-year deal for $ 80 million on October 3, 2017. He was named captain of the Sabers a year later.
Buffalo has not played the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2010/11, the longest active series in the NHL. On May 29, Eichel said he was “frustrated with the way things are going”.
Adams, who grew up in Buffalo, a suburb of Clarence, New York, said he knew how Eichel and the rest of the fan base feel.
“I’m in a unique position to be from here and really understand our fan base and the importance of this franchise and the ups and downs and what people are feeling right now. I’m part of this community,” he said.
“You have to win the day, right? So every day I try to focus on winning the moments first, right? Every moment you try to get better and better and then win the day and then the next day win and do it again.… This is how we want to move forward. I understand that there is an urgency in this position, our fan base wants us to be successful. Me too and we all and we have to be better. We have to be a better team on the ice bring, and I understand. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now. We work every day to win the moments that we hope can be transferred across the board to on-. Ice success. “
Buffalo is number 8 in the 2020 NHL Draft.
“Our team has a lot of really good players right now,” said Adams. “What maybe wasn’t exactly right is how they all fit together. I’m working on it, I think about it a lot, I talk to a lot of different people. I’m just trying to find how we put this together, not just like the lineup on paper looks like, but how they end up synchronizing, I think if you look at the playoffs you see chemistry in lines, in lines [defense] Pairs, just that kind of natural flow that some of the top-end teams build in their lineups. “
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