BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres have a new coach in Lindy Ruff and a new captain in Rasmus Dahlin .
They have an arena with a flashy new scoreboard and a newly installed roof to plug its many leaks. And with that comes a history of unfulfilled hopes accompanying the team's NHL-record 13-year playoff drought. So what separates this year from the past? “I guess the best way to answer that is, I understand,” general manager Kevyn Adams told The Associated Press before leaving for Europe, where Buffalo opens its season in Prague against New Jersey with a pair of games.
“Until you get the results, until you become a contending team and winning in the playoffs and putting yourself in position to win, then there’s going to be people that question decisions you make.” Adams then outlined spending the past three years overhauling the roster — highlighted by trading captain Jack Eichel to Vegas in November 2021 — and rebuilding through youth. “Our plan has been to get into this spot where we can get this young core that wanted to be here for the right reasons and play together,” Adams said.
“That’s the simplest way for me to say that I believe in the people in our locker room. I believe in the coaching staff. And now we have to turn them into results, for sure.
” It was Adams who declared the window of contention open a year ago — before the Sabres stumbled through a season which ended with Don Granato's firing , marking Buffalo's seventh coaching cha.
