Sabres rewind: Looking back at GM Kevyn Adams' consequential trades

Another attempt at rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres began with the failed 2020-21 season when their franchise pillars wanted out and promising young players like Tage Thompson emerged as possible long-term difference-makers.

Eric Staal, Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel were traded in a span of less than eight months.

Moving Eichel to Vegas brought Alex Tuch to Buffalo, but, for the most part, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams spent more than a year stockpiling draft picks and prospects.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, top left, said The decisions we make are about winning, and thats what we need to do.

The days of looking to the future appear to be over.

Each of the past two blockbuster trades involving the Sabres were done with winning in mind.

Were going to do everything every single day to help our team get better and win hockey games, and that was part of my message to the group also, not just our players but staff, said Adams.

The decisions we make are about winning, and thats what we need to do.

How have the Sabres done on the trade market since Adams became general manager in 2020? Heres a glimpse of his deals and how theyve panned out, using Evolving-Hockey.com s Goals Above Replacement and Wins Above Replacement metrics: Rebuilding Eric Staal to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2021 third-round draft pick (winger Josh Bloom) and 2021 fifth-round pick (winger Viljami Marjala) on March 26, 2021: Adams first consequential trade as Sabres GM in the summer of 2020 involved bringing Staal, a former teammate with whom he won the Stanley Cup, to Buffalo in exchange for Marcus Johansson.

Staal was in the twilight of his career but coming off a season in which he produced 19 goals for Minnesota.

Though Staal brought leadership and wisdom to the dressing room theres no way to measure his impact on young teammates like Dylan Cozens he had only three goals with a minus-20 rating in 32 games as a Sabre.

His negative-2 wins above replacement and negative-11 goals above replacement were the worst marks of his career.

The Sabres got a bigger return than expected considering Staals struggles, but they traded Bloom less than a year after signing him to an entry-level contract and, though Marjala had a promising 2023-24 season as rookie of the year in Finlands pro league, he has yet to sign with Buffalo or appear in a game for the Rochester Americans.

Brandon Montour to the Florida Panthers for a 2021 third-round pick (winger Stiven Sardarian) on April 10, 2021: This one is ugly.

The Sabres, particularly coach Ralph Krueger, badly misused Montour and the team-wide struggles that season, particularly an 18-game losing streak, which cratered his trade value approximately two years after he was acquired by former general manager Jason Botterill for a first-round draft pick to play for a different coach, Phil Housley.

With Florida, Montour had three consecutive seasons of 33 or more points, including a career-high 73 in 2023-23, and helped the franchise win its first Stanley Cup in 2024 before signing a seven-year contract with the Seattle Kraken.

He had a combined 27.2 goals above replacement across three years, compared to negative-0.8 in 112 games with Buffalo.

Sardarian, 21, had nine goals and 21 points in 61 games at the University of New Hampshire and transferred this summer to Michigan Tech.

Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar to the Boston Bruins for winger Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick (winger Aleksandr Kisakov) on April 11, 2021: Terry Pegula thought Taylor Hall could be the missing piece for the Sabres when the owner agreed to give the winger and former Hart Trophy winger a one-year, $8 million contract for the 2020-21 pandemic-shortened season.

Pegula went as far as to say on camera that Halls arrival made them a Cup contender.

Hall had only two goals and 19 points with a minus-21 rating in 37 games.

He and Jack Eichel never formed the chemistry that Krueger and Adams expected, although Halls 7.9 goals against replacement that season remains his second-best mark since 2018-19.

The no-movement clause Buffalo gave Hall as a free agent came back to bite them when it was time to trade the veteran winger.

He forced a move to Boston, which made Adams settle for Bjork, whose skate-around-the-perimeter approach led to eight goals in 73 games as a Sabre.

And, though its still early in his development, the player they chose with the draft pick, Kisakov, has only 11 goals in 80 games across two seasons in Rochester, and he was a healthy scratch in each of the Amerks last two playoff appearances.

Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Robert Hagg, a 2021 first-round pick (winger Isak Rosen) and 2023 second-round pick (winger Anton Wahlberg): A resounding victory for Adams.

Ristolainen was ready for a change after eight disappointing seasons in Buffalo, and he flopped in Philadelphia until John Tortorella arrived.

Hagg, meanwhile, gave the Sabres some reliable play as a third-pair defenseman during the early stages of another rebuild, plus Adams added two quality prospects in Rosen and Wahlberg, both of whom look like theyll become NHL players.

Sam Reinhart to the Panthers for goalie Devon Levi and 2022 first-round pick (center Jiri Kulich): This is another trade that irks many in the fan base.

Reinhart was beloved by many in Buffalo.

He was one of the faces of the franchise, a second overall draft pick who had 22 or more goals in five of his six seasons with the Sabres.

He was just beginning to blossom into a high-end, top-six forward in 2021 when Reinhart made it clear that he wasnt signing another contract with the club.

Reinhart has 33, 31 and a career-high 57 goals in each of his three seasons in Florida.

Hes also had 82, 67 and 94 points.

The 28-year-old was a key cog in the Panthers run to the Stanley Cup and signed an eight-year contract extension this summer.

His success, particularly this past season, would have sparked more outrage if Adams didnt land a high-end goalie prospect whos already contributed in Buffalo and a young goal-scorer with untapped potential.

Both will need to become long-term difference-makers, though.

Reinhart has a combined 49.7 GAR in Florida, while Levi and Kulich have appeared in only 31 NHL games.

Jack Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick (center Mathieu Cataford) for winger Alex Tuch, center Peyton Krebs, 2022 first-round pick (center Noah Ostlund) and 2023 third-round pick (later used to acquire winger Jordan Greenway) on Nov.

4, 2021: The long-awaited blockbuster trade that ended the Sabres dispute with their star player and former captain brought a haul of players and draft picks to Buffalo.

And, though the move gave Vegas a top-line center and helped it win the Stanley Cup, Tuchs production is like that of Eichel.

Tuch has more regular-season games played (199 to 164) and points (176 to 159), while the 28-year-old wingers total GAR (35.4) and WAR (6.1) are slightly lower than Eichel.

The difference is Eichels exceptional performance during the Golden Knights march to the Cup in 2023, and he has only two more regular-season goals than Tuch.

Krebs has a negative-1.2 GAR and 20 goals in 202 games with Buffalo, but hes 23 years old and has shown promise in a fourth-line role.

Ostlund, 20, is preparing for his first full season with the Amerks.

Preparations to play three games in two European countries began months before the Sabres headed overseas.

Several departments across the organization were involved, but two equipment and player performance shoulder an immense responsibility to ensure Lindy Ruffs team is ready.

Winning time Defenseman Riley Stillman acquired from the Vancouver Canucks for Bloom on Feb.

27, 2023: A team in desperate need of help on defense during an unexpected playoff push settled for a struggling veteran who faced a steep learning curve to transition from Vancouvers man-to-man defense.

The Sabres pre-deadline failure in 2022-23 was not adding someone who could skate next to Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power.

Stillman played in zero NHL games last season and left as an unrestricted free agent in July.

Goalie Erik Portillo traded to Los Angeles Kings for 2023 third-round pick (defenseman Gavin McCarthy) on March 1, 2023: Adding a promising right-shot defenseman like McCarthy for a goalie prospect unwilling to sign an entry-level contract is a smart piece of business for Adams and his staff.

Portillo may become the Kings starter, but he wanted nothing to do with Buffalo after it acquired Levi.

Greenway acquired for a 2023 second-round pick (center Riley Heidt) and 2024 fifth-round pick (defenseman Sebastian Soini) on March 3, 2023: The 6-foot-6 power forward arrived with a bothersome injury that prevented him from making an impact during the playoff push in 2023, but he was one of the NHLs best penalty-killing forwards during his second season in Buffalo and began training camp at right wing on the third line.

Greenway is entering the final season of his contract and, though its fair to wonder if he fits with Ruff as coach, he was a smart, win-now add for a team that needed more physicality and smart defense from its bottom six.

Hes produced a positive GAR and WAR in each of the past three seasons.

Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin traded to Anaheim Ducks for 2025 fourth-round draft pick on Aug.

18, 2023: Lybushkin really struggled for the Sabres in 2022-23 after signing a two-year contract.

He couldnt defend rush chances and struggled on the breakout.

Moving on after one season made sense.

The club needed a reliable defender and penalty killer for the third pair.

However, Buffalo replaced Lybushkin with Erik Johnson, who, at 35 years old, had the worst season of his career and eventually got benched for rookie Ryan Johnson before he was traded in March.

Winger Eric Robinson acquired from Columbus Blue Jackets for nothing on Dec.

6, 2023, since Robinson did not appear in enough NHL games last season: Rather than acquiring a top-six forward while Jack Quinn was recovering from an Achilles injury, the Sabres went bargain shopping for a bottom-six forward and landed on Robinson, who scored two goals in 40 games for Buffalo and posted a negative-3.9 GAR.

Defenseman Bowen Byram acquired from Colorado Avalanche for center Casey Mittelstadt on March 6, 2024: Its too soon to provide analytic-based analysis of this trade.

There were flashes of brilliance from Byram during his 18 games with the Sabres, but he, like most others on the team, began to struggle as they finished with eight fewer standings points than the previous season.

Byram, 23, is the young, top-four defenseman Adams coveted for years, and Byrams already played a prominent role on a Stanley Cup champion.

Injuries slowed Byram at times in Colorado, but he has the upside to be a long-term answer for Buffalo.

The trade wasnt well received.

Mittelstadt finally developed into a top-six forward, and he arguably was their best all-around player up front over the previous 14 months.

The Sabres werent willing to pay him as a restricted free agent, though, and their depth at center convinced Adams to make the move.

Mittelstadt had seven goals and 19 points in 29 games across the regular season and playoffs with Colorado.

He received a five-year contract extension and enters his seventh full NHL campaign as its No.

2 center.

Winger Kyle Okposo traded to Panthers for defenseman Calle Sjalin and 2024 seventh-round pick (later used to move up in third round to take winger Brodie Ziemer) on March 8, 2024: The Sabres granted Okposos wish to chase a Stanley Cup with Florida, and his victory over the Oilers upgraded the draft pick to a fifth-rounder, which Buffalo used to move up and add Ziemer, captain of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.

Defenseman Erik Johnson traded to Flyers for 2024 fourth-round pick (defenseman Simon-Pier Brunet) on March 8, 2024: It was a coup for the Sabres to add a mid-round prospect in this trade given Johnsons struggles at 5-on-5.

Zucker's resume includes 697 regular-season games across 13 years, 52 playoff games, six seasons of 20-plus goals and, as important, a laundry list of former teammates who speak highly of him.

Winger Beck Malenstyn acquired from Washington Capitals for 2024 second-round pick, which Buffalo added by trading down in first round on June 29, 2024: Giving up a high pick for a fourth liner with little offensive production and ugly defensive metrics isnt great value, but Malenstyns speed and physicality, combined with the signings of Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, will transform Buffalos bottom six.

Its a big swing by Adams on a player he thinks fills a void and, at 26 years old, Malenstyn can be a potential long-term piece of their plan.

He also posted a 4.3 GAR while shouldering the most difficult matchups on his team last season.

Center Ryan McLeod and winger Tyler Tullio acquired from Edmonton Oilers for forward Matt Savoie on July 5, 2024: It couldnt have been easy for Adams to trade his top pick in the 2022 draft.

He and his staff loved Savoie as a player and person, but McLeod is an outstanding third-line center with elite speed, prowess on the penalty kill, shut down defense and an impressive faceoff winning percentage.

He also had a 10.2 GAR and 1.7 WAR in the regular season before the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup final.

McLeod, 25, had career highs in goals (12), points (30) and total games played (105) in Edmonton.

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