Top quotes from Kevyn Adams and Lindy Ruff's season-ending press conference 

The Buffalo Sabres’ end-of-season media availability wrapped up Saturday at KeyBank Center with head coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams.

Together, they addressed a variety of topics including the 2024-25 team’s shortcomings, offseason roster plans, upcoming contract discussions with star players, goaltending, and much more.

Here are the key takeaways from Ruff and Adams’ reflections on the past year and visions for the next.

• Read: Top player quotes from locker cleanout

Full press conference

The organization

On potential changes to the coaching staff and/or front office:

Adams: “We’ll take a look at everything. Obviously, we’re just getting through the season, wrapping up, exit meetings with players. Lindy and I haven’t even had a chance to sit down yet together since he was talking to players, but we’re willing to do whatever it takes to help our team get better. So we’ll definitely look there.

“We want to get better. We’ll look at everything. We’ll have meetings with Terry coming in the very near future where we’ll, as we typically do after a season, review everything, talk about the roster, talk about everything in the organization, hockey operations. Where can we improve? What do we need to focus on? And we’ll make any decision we need to make to help us get better.

“I talk to Terry every day. He’s as frustrated as I am with the way the season went and where we are. Certainly, (I’m) sure that he’ll be asking me a lot of hard questions: Why we are where we are, and where we go from here.”

On the development of a winning culture – on the ice and as an organization:

Adams: “Culture is earned, in terms of your daily habits and the things that you do. And what I believe we need to probably reflect on and do a better job of – and I shared this with the players over the last couple days – is more of our players starting with looking in the mirror first. If we all do that across the organization… What can I do better? How can I be the best version of myself in my job as general manager? Coaches do the same thing, the players do the same thing.

“That starts to build a culture of accountability. … If we do a better job of that, and then get positive results, better things start to happen, and a better culture is built. And that’s something that we’ll continue to work on and talk about.”

Ruff: “Ultimately, [culture is] a group of players that believe in each other. … It’s bringing a group together that is really connected and they’re committed to the same thing. The culture is a team-first attitude. … That might be giving up individual success at certain times in the game. That is including blocking shots when maybe you’re not the best shot blocker or getting in the way of people you probably don’t want to. It’s a selflessness culture.

“And there were times I thought we were really close to it, that we’ve gotten a lot better at it. But we failed the test at times.”

Contracts and transactions

On Bowen Byram, who becomes a restriced free agent July 1:

Adams: “I think Bo had an excellent season. He’s a Stanley Cup champion at a very young age and extremely talented, and when we traded for him, we didn’t exactly know how he’d fit. We were willing to make that bet and say, ‘Let’s bring in a really, really good hockey player and see how it shakes out.’ I think he had a nice season. Did a lot of good things for us, and we’re going to start to talk about that now as we get into the offseason.

“What makes the most sense for our team? Just the way our roster sits, long-term versus short-term contracts. And there’s obviously salaries you have to look at, and projections.

“… He’s a really good player and we’ll be open to anything.”

On Alex Tuch, who on July 1 becomes eligible to sign a contract extension; his current deal expires after the 2025-26 season:

Adams: “He’s typically a guy that leads our forwards in minutes, plays in every situation. I thought he had a tremendous season, and he loves Buffalo and wants to be here. So, he’s a priority. He’s a guy that we certainly hope to have for a long time.”

On Josh Norris, who suffered a torn oblique prior to the March 7 trade to Buffalo:

Adams: "We were (aware of the injury). He’d been cleared to come back and play, and once he got here, there was a feeling that maybe he had come back too early from that.

“I don’t think it would have changed anything in our mind of making the trade, that’s for sure, because we did this for long-term reasons. We were aware of it and then, unfortunately, it was so quickly when he got here, (he) reinjured it, and it’s almost like he had to start over. Those are tough injuries. He’s doing much better. He would have been very close to being ready to play if we were still playing.”

On Jiri Kulich’s rookie season, and sending him to Rochester for the AHL playoffs (instead of the World Championship):

Adams: “I think Jiri had a tremendous rookie season overall. To me, he's definitely he's a center. Sometimes guys can slide over the wing, but I think long-term and ultimately he proved in his rookie year that he can play center. He's a very sound defensive player. Lindy had him a lot of nights matching up against the other team's top line and that's a pretty hard thing to do as a 20-year-old in this league, playing center.

“There was a chance for him, an opportunity to play in the Worlds, which would have been a great option as well. But when I really thought this through, I mean, he's 20 years old, and I feel that Rochester has a really good team and an opportunity to do something really special.

“My expectation for our players is that we're going to be playing into June over the coming years, and I want our guys used to that. And I also think if there's a chance to win a championship and they go down and have success, I think that would be great for Jiri's development.”

Ruff: “I think the Rochester playoffs is more like (the) NHL. I’ve been at a lot of World Championships, and there’s good hockey, but sometimes you get on the big ice and it’s not near as intense and physical as what you would face here. I think this prepares him.”

Goaltending

On Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s 2024-25 performance and prospects moving forward:

Ruff: “I believe in UPL. Until I get the team to clean up some of the poor puck play, it’s going to be hard on any goalie.”

Adams: “I have a huge amount of faith in UPL. Even (in) my exit meeting today with him, I was really impressed with his maturity and his diagnosis of his game and his season overall. I have a ton of faith in him.

“I think with goaltenders, especially relatively young goaltenders, there is a lot of variability year to year just in terms of ups and downs, so I have a lot of faith he’s gonna bounce back and have a really strong season next year. We also need to play better in front of him.”

On Devon Levi, who’s beginning the playoffs after an excellent regular season in Rochester; when will he be ready for the NHL?

Adams: “I think that's the opportunity that's right at his fingertips: to be able to go out there and play big games in the playoffs and carry a team. That's a great opportunity for him, so it'll be part of the evaluation, for sure. I've said this over and over, I believe Devon Levi’s going to be a very good goalie in the NHL. It's really up to him when the time happens. We've been patient. We've wanted to make sure that he's getting the appropriate number of starts the last couple of years, making sure that we set him up for long-term success.

“He's had a very good year in Rochester and certainly if he can take a step here in the playoffs, it'll be impactful, for sure.”

On potentially adding to the goaltending group this offseason:

Adams: “If we think there’s an opportunity to upgrade and make our team better at any position, we’re going to be open to that. I’m certainly not scared about going into the season with UPL and Devon because I believe in both of them. But also it goes hand in hand with Lindy and what he’s saying. I think they’ll both look better if we play better defensively and just clean some stuff up. But we’ll continue to look at everything.”

Defense

On finding a more consistent partner for Owen Power:

Adams: “I don’t think I’ve done a good enough job of helping Owen, in terms of just that guy that’s out there on the ice with him every game for his first few years. I haven’t been able to get that right person.

“I talked to Owen today about that, in terms of what does he feel like he needs in someone next to him and what makes sense, and it’s interesting. He said, ‘I have no problem playing with anybody, I’ve had no issue with anybody I’ve played with over my career.’ Just the one thing that helps him is someone who can move the puck and be clean with the puck touches. It’s why I thought he and (Jacob) Bernard-Docker played pretty well together, because JBD is pretty simple with the puck and makes good decisions.

“It would be great to get an All-Star right-shot defenseman that can be next to him for the next bunch of years. But it doesn’t always work like that in terms of acquiring that player. So we’ll look at it, but I think just figuring out what that mix is, is something that we have to probably look at and do a better job this summer with our D-corps overall.”

On signing Jacob Bryson to a one-year contract extension on March 20:

Adams: “He is one of the most well-liked guys in terms of the locker room and just his work ethic and positivity. It’s infectious and just how much he cares about the team and how much the guys care about him. When you’re in the role that he plays, that’s a key part of that. There’s times where he could be scratched for a number of games, and sometimes guys get really miserable and bitter and it can hurt your team.

“Where he’s at right now in his career, he’s one of those depth defenseman that can jump in and play. … And he’s also proven that he can be scratched for an extended period of time and jump in and play good hockey. And also play either side.

“… Also, there’s not a ton of [unrestricted] free-agent defensemen to be out there in the market. I just think it doesn’t change our mind of how we are going to build the team or add defensemen if there is an opportunity. And I just wanted to make sure that, going into the year, we didn’t have a shortage of guys that can be impactful when they are in the lineup.”

The team

On the Sabres’ special-teams performance this season:

Adams: “I think it’s an important thing that we improve on. … We need to be better, both our power play and penalty kill. I do think we have the talent and ability with the players we have on the roster to be better than where we finished, and that’ll be a focus this offseason, for sure.”

On the Sabres’ toughness as a team:

Adams: “I think the most impactful way to think about it, in my mind, is team toughness, where guys are just together every whistle and there’s just a pack mentality. And I do think we were nowhere near good enough at that this year. I do think we showed better in the last 20-some games doing a little bit better job of sticking up for each other.”

On Rasmus Dahlin’s growth in his first year as captain:

Adams: “What I appreciate about Rasmus is how thoughtful he is in all areas of his life. He went through some new experiences this year. He shared with me yesterday, when we had our exit meeting, he had to figure out what kind of captain he was. That took him time. There’s no way to do that until you’re going through it. What he ultimately landed on and found was that there’s certain players on the team that he could delegate certain responsibility to and help him out as a leader. He started to figure that out.

“Also, he’s a leader by example. He’s a guy that I think practices at an elite level. It’s not just the way he plays in games. He just needs to know he doesn’t always have to be the one saying something at the perfect time. Just go be you. The best leaders I’ve ever been around are people that you know are completely authentic and carrying themselves that way. He started to learn that as the year went on. All of what he went through was totally normal.

“He cares. He loves his teammates. He loves this city. He loves the organization and he’s committed to getting it right here, which I think is important for us to have in such a world-class player.”