Sabers are off to their worst start since the 2017-18 season. Can Kevyn Adams fix it?

The Buffalo sabers lost 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday evening. It was their third straight loss, dropping their record to 4-7-1 and tying them with the Canadians And Kites for last place in the Eastern Conference.

This is Kevyn Adams’ fifth season as general manager, and this is the Sabres’ worst record through 12 games during his tenure. This is the Sabres’ worst point total through 12 games since 2017-18. That was Jason Botterill’s first season as general manager, and the Sabers finished last in the league NHL.

This wasn’t supposed to be that kind of year. That wasn’t the message from the organization when Adams hired Lindy Ruff to replace Don Granato as coach after a disappointing 84-point season in 2023-24. Adams said this team was now ready to win, this core of players craved responsibility and the team needed to raise its standards.

But the first 12 games of the season looked familiar to anyone who watched the Sabers during their league-record 13-year playoff drought. For starters, the special teams play has been an anchor. The Sabers allowed two more power-play goals against the Red Wings, dropping their penalty kill to 71 percent, fifth-worst in the NHL. They also went 0-2 on the power play in Detroit, putting the power play at 8.6 percent this season, last in the NHL.

That’s a glaring problem that keeps popping up, but it’s not the only one.

The Sabers continue to miss the net at the second-highest rate in the NHL. They have combined for six goals in their last three games after scoring 13 during the three-game winning streak that preceded this stretch. They have been inconsistent, in part because they are unable to solve all their problems at once.

We’re live with head coach Lindy Ruff after tonight’s game in Detroit.

— Buffalo Sabers (@BuffaloSabres) November 3, 2024

When the power play scored, the Sabers made defensive assignments on the same play that led to strange rushes. The Sabers had 10 or more high-danger chances at even strength in five of their first games, but haven’t reached that number in the six games since.

You could make a list of disappointing numbers and individual performances for this team. Jack Quinnwho should have been a breakout candidate for the Sabers, has one goal (an empty-netter) and looks like a shell of the player who excited the team as a rookie in 2022-2023. Dylan Cozenswho is an alternate captain and earns just over $7 million per season also has one goal. The Sabers are still too dependent on it Tag Thompson‘s line and Rasmus Dahlin generate a violation. They have also had some bad luck and have been below average at times during the first twelve games.

The big change would happen behind the bench. Early season results have shown that it will take some time for Ruff’s coaching points to sink in with the players. The Sabers take premature penalties, such as Quinn’s delay of game penalty against the Red Wings. They also miss defensive assignments too often and don’t get enough traffic in front of the other team’s net.

There is a lot to be resolved and Ruff is looking for answers. He shook every part of Buffalo’s lineup coming into this game. All four forwards and all three defensive pairs looked different from the night before against the Islanders. This was the setup to start the game:

Forward

Jason Zucker – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuk
JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Jiri Kulich
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

Defense

Bowen Byram – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Mattias Samuelsson – Jacob Bryson

Despite all the changes, the results remained the same, which was a familiar story for this franchise. Ruff can only tinker so much. The real question about this season for the Sabers is whether the roster as constructed is good enough to be a playoff contender. Adams is in his fifth season as general manager and he hand-picked most of these players. Five players from this team already have long-term contracts. Five others will be restricted free agents at the end of this season.

Since the start of last season, Adams has been trading Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram, bought out Jeff Skinnertraded for Ryan McLeod and then signed Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. While some of those players have played well, the needle hasn’t moved for this Sabers team. And Mittelstadt’s business looks worse with every point he scores for Colorado.

Adams said at the start of the season that he was confident the Sabers’ scoring would rebound because of the players on the roster. The Sabers are now 15 percent of the way through the season and the internal improvement hasn’t come yet. The Sabers also have $7.2 million in unused cap space and plenty of prospects and picks, so there’s no excuse not to add to this roster at some point.

A 2-1 loss in early November is usually not a cause for concern, but the Sabers would now have to play at a 105-point pace for the rest of the season to reach the 95-point mark. Can they play that well with what they have? Adams needs to answer that question soon. And if the answer is no, his job may depend on what he does to solve the problem.

(Top photo of Detroit’s Dylan Larkin scoring on Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: Brian Bradshaw Sevald / Imagn Images)