'Iron sharpens iron' | Adams, Krueger look ahead to 2020-21

Ralph Krueger grinned as he laid out the twists and turns that could await the Sabres during a 2020-21 season that promises to be unlike any other.
"I love adventures and we're all going on one, that's for sure," the coach said.
Krueger and general manager Kevyn Adams met with the media Tuesday to look ahead to the 56-game season, which opens Jan. 14. Players will gather for the start of training camp this Thursday with on-ice sessions set to begin the following morning.
The tone they set was one of optimism, from embracing the challenge of what is sure to be a competitive East Division to building on strides made a season ago.
Here some key takeaways from those chats.

Embracing realignment

The NHL's geographic realignment placed the Sabres in an East Division that looks particularly challenging on paper with six teams that made last year's expanded playoff: Boston, both New York teams, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington. (New Jersey rounds out the group.)
Adams credited the League for the work it did in crafting the return to play under difficult circumstances and made it clear he has chosen to embrace the challenge ahead, a message he will echo to players.
"I think as an athlete, you look at that as an opportunity, and that's the same way I want the staff and hockey operations and (us) overall as an organization (to think)," Adams said.
"This is an amazing opportunity. We get to wake up every day and get to compete with the top teams in the league and challenge ourselves. You know the saying, 'Iron sharpens iron.' I think we're going to get better through this. That's something to embrace. That's the mindset the players want to have."

The approach for the taxi squad

Teams can carry a 23-man roster plus a taxi squad of four to six players that can practice and travel with the NHL team. That begs the question of whether teams will utilize the taxi squad to store veterans who would typically play in the AHL or prospects who might normally be in juniors or elsewhere.
"I think it's a combination of everything," Adams said. "I would say, if I'm prioritizing, it has to be about what puts us in the best position to have success for the Buffalo Sabres now."
The AHL is targeting Feb. 5 for its start date, more than two weeks after the NHL. Neither the OHL nor the WHL have announced firm start dates for their seasons, meaning teams could have to get creative to find playing time for prospects. In Buffalo's case, that includes first-round picks Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn, which brings us to our next topic.

The World Juniors effect

Cozens has been considered a candidate to make the jump to the NHL after taking his game to new heights last season in the WHL, where he tallied 85 points and was nominated for player of the year.
He and Quinn will be late additions to camp, however, with their arrival depending on how far Team Canada advances at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Cozens leads the tournament with seven points through two games, while Quinn has a goal and an assist.

J-J Peterka, who has four points in three games with Germany, is also a candidate to join the Sabres at camp. Both Adams and Krueger said they do not expect the late arrivals to negatively impact any of the prospects' chances at cracking the NHL roster.
"We need to see how they come off the world championships," Krueger said. "We will have time. Everybody knows we can play players up to seven games before we need to keep them or place them somewhere. We're in no rush. Let's let it happen organically.
"What we'd like to do is to bring especially Dylan and Jack to camp and see where everybody else is at that time. It will be a week, at least, into camp and hopefully we can see them in our second intersquad game."
Asked specifically about Quinn, Adams suggested that the Sabres could explore opportunities for prospects to play overseas in the event that they do not make the NHL team and the Canadian junior leagues are unable to start up.

The impact of a short camp

Krueger is no stranger to condensed training camps thanks to his years coaching at international tournaments, most recently with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
He explained what his approach will be to get the Sabres in shape for Jan. 14.
"Well, first and foremost, we are continuing a story, not beginning a story," he said. "So, we have our core players who are familiar with our system. We had contacts through the offseason in different forms. But, clearly, we need to re-awaken the principles of play and the concepts that we were working on last year with the core guys.
"… You need to be creative. We all know this is going to be a season where flexibility, spontaneity and an open mind are going to be really important because we do not know exactly what the rules will be in two weeks, four weeks or six weeks. So, what we need to do is keep the windows small. And within those windows, you need to drive for the pace and for the style of play that you want right off the hop, no matter how the players feel the pain."