Sabres GM: 'We're not a destination' to attract free agents

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams addressed his club's mediocre start to the season Friday and admitted the organization's decade-plus of futility has had a negative effect on attracting new players.

"We're not a destination city right now, where you're going to be able to go out and get UFAs that are the key guys," Adams said. "I just don't think that's the way to build a sustainable winner. You evaluate your core, you look for trades that you can have players that can grow with you and add to your team. If there's UFAs that you can add that make sense, that work, of course you're going to be open to doing that."

Adams noted acquiring talent via trade is difficult for Buffalo because the team is on many players' no-trade lists. Adams has acquired Alex Tuch, Ryan McLeod, and Jordan Greenway via trade, among others, since being hired as GM in 2020.

The executive believes the only way to become a desirable spot for players is to start winning.

"You have to earn it," Adams said. "For me, it's really simple. You become a perennial playoff team, you make the playoffs, you have a chance to win the Stanley Cup year after year, you are on less team's no-trade lists. We don't have palm trees, we have taxes in New York. Those are real. Those are things you deal with."

He added: "We have to earn the respect. It starts with getting over the hump, getting in the playoffs, and competing."

The Sabres are in the midst of the league's longest active playoff drought at 13 seasons. They're currently two points off a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference at 11-12-3.