'We have to be better' | Kevyn Adams details coaching decision

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said there will be an honest conversation had when the team returns to KeyBank Center for its game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Regardless of the standings, pride should be evident in the Sabres' play moving forward.
"To love, to look around the city of Buffalo and see Sabres hats and signs and people wearing jerseys - that matters," Adams said.
"That has to be within the DNA of our team. I don't care where we are in the standings right now. If we do not show up at the rink tomorrow and for the rest of that season and have that characteristic about our team, it's going to be unacceptable."

Adams relieved head coach Ralph Krueger and assistant coach Steve Smith of their duties early Wednesday morning, following a 3-2 loss in New Jersey that extended Buffalo's winless streak to 12 games (0-9-2). Assistant coach Don Granato will take over as interim head coach. Director of player development Matt Ellis and development coach Dan Girardi will be interim assistants.
Adams said during a conference call with the media on March 5 that the entire team was under evaluation, including the coaching staff. He spent the ensuing weeks reading the pulse of the dressing room and weighing the best course of action, a decision he said was made more difficult by players' belief and admiration for Krueger.
Ultimately, he decided the time had come for the organization to make a change.
"We have to be better in every single area of this organization," Adams said. "It starts with me. I need to manage better, OK? I need to be better in every way. We need to coach better, we need to scout better, we need to develop players better. We need to practice better. I mean, you name it, we need to do it better. Period.
"I said it a couple weeks ago, it's unacceptable in every area. So, why do we do it? Well, we're doing it because we feel we have to start to improve. Of course, results matter. This is a results business and where we are is unacceptable, it speaks for itself. But it's deeper than that. To change the culture and to do what we have to do to get this headed in the right direction, I felt this was the move that we had to make."

Adams said the search for the 20th head coach in Sabres history will begin immediately. The GM has assembled a list of qualities he believes the ideal candidate should have, though he refrained from putting strict parameters on the search.
"For me, it's about getting it right," he said. "If we felt it was absolutely the right person and it happens quicker then OK. If it needs to take a longer time because we haven't found the right person or this isn't that easy of a time to have conversations and meet people face-to-face either - I don't want to rush into anything. It's about getting it right and that's something I've talked about since June."
The Sabres are halfway through a condensed schedule, set to play their final 28 games in a span of just 52 days. They sit last in the NHL with 16 points. That does not mean these next two months are without meaning.
The organizational goal of creating an identity that Buffalo can be proud of stands at the forefront from here on out.
"We need to be better in the harder areas of the game," Adams said. "We need to defend better and quicker and more tenaciously. We need to do a better job in the offensive zone of getting to the inside and the harder areas. We need to manage the game better. When you're at the end of a shift and the puck is on your stick, do you take that hit and get the puck deep so you don't turn it over and have an odd-man rush the other way? Those are the little things.
"That's stacking things on top of each other that point you in the right direction and the results do take care of themselves. This is a results business, but if you do the right things shift in and shift out, you start to win shifts, and then you win periods and then you win hockey games. Let's not overcomplicate this. We want to be better. We have to be better and we will be better."
Here are more takeaways from Adams' conversation with the media.

1. Sabres will add an assistant GM

Adams said the search to fill the role is ongoing.
"I think if you go back to June, one of the things we talked about is finding the right people and kind of maybe catching my breath and understanding everything that was going on and evaluating where we see that we need to fill in, knowing all along that we absolutely had to fill in certain roles," he said. "That's something that I'm working on right now and I'll keep you posted on it."

2. Eichel could return this season

Adams said Jack Eichel is nearing the end of his quarantine after leaving the state for a second opinion on the upper-body he sustained against the New York Islanders on March 7. The Sabres captain will be reevaluated upon rejoining the team.
"We're hoping that Jack will be able to move forward here and get back in the lineup," Adams said.

3. Options are being evaluated regarding Taylor Hall

Adams said he has had conversations with Hall's agent, Darren Ferris, regarding all potential options for the forward. The team could agree to an extension with Hall, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, or ask him to waive his no-movement clause prior to the April 12 trade deadline.
"We're open to anything and everything," Adams said. "My job is to do anything and everything to make this franchise move in the right direction. I have a very good relationship with Darren Ferris and Taylor. Open lines of communication and obviously days are moving forward here, so there will be a lot of conversations around that."