7 takeaways from Kevyn Adams' post-deadline press conference

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams detailed the process that went into the team's trade with the Boston Bruins, discussed the future of goaltender Linus Ullmark and updated the search for a permanent head coach during a Zoom call with the media following the NHL trade deadline on Monday.
The Sabres acquired forward Anders Bjork and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft in exchange for forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar earlier in the day, making Hall the third and final pending unrestricted free agent to be traded by the Sabres prior to the deadline.
The team previously acquired a trio of picks from Montreal and Florida in exchange for forward Eric Staal and defenseman Brandon Montour, respectively.
Here are takeaways from Adams' session with the media.

1. Detailing the trade with Boston

The Sabres signed Hall to a one-year deal during the offseason in hopes that he would add a top-six scoring threat and nudge the team toward playoff contention. Hall started strongly but saw his production dip as the season wore on, finishing with two goals and 19 points in 37 games.
Adams said the two sides spoke a few weeks prior to the deadline about how to make a potential trade work given Hall's full no-movement clause. The message from Hall and his agent was that he would like to play for a Stanley Cup contender.
As offers came in, Hall turned his focus to Boston.
"As we got to yesterday when things heated up a little bit, I would say, obviously stayed in touch and got to a point where Taylor thought Boston was the team that he thought he wanted to go to," Adams said. "That was where he felt was the best fit and contractually, he had earned that right to make that call. We focused our attention there and obviously was able to get a deal done."
Adams said the Sabres targeted the 24-year-old Bjork as a player with untapped offensive upside. The Bruins sought Lazar, who had carved out an everyday role as a checking centerman since joining the Sabres last season, in return.
"I feel he's going to be a good player that comes in and has a chance to play a bigger role," Adams said of Bjork. "I think that's sometimes what it takes for players to grab an opportunity and run.

2. The team sought to stockpile picks

Buffalo now holds 10 draft picks in 2021, up from five when the season began. In addition to the second-round pick acquired from Boston, the team received:
• A sixth-round pick from Colorado for goaltender Jonas Johansson.
• Third- and fifth-round picks from Montreal for Staal.
• A third-round pick from Florida for Montour.
"That was definitely the plan," Adams said. "One takeaway that I had last year in a short time preparing for the draft was it is hard to go into the draft short-handed. Draft picks are currency, and besides building your pipeline, which I think has been lacking, you can also use that currency in other ways.
"You can package picks together to potentially acquire players. You can package picks together to move up in the draft. Maybe we need some pick for expansion reasons to help yourself. So, it definitely was a strategy going in once our team got to the point where we were not where we needed to be in the standings."

3. Sabres hope to retain Ullmark

One of the pending UFAs who did not depart via trade is Ullmark, who has developed into the team's No. 1 goaltender over the past two seasons.
Adams said the team hopes to keep the goaltender in the fold beyond this year and added that conversations between the two sides are ongoing.

"I've spent time with Linus just one-on-one having conversations about philosophically where we're at and where we're looking to get to and what he's looking for," Adams said. That's my style. I think that's an important relationship to have with your players.
"It's not about dollars and cents. It's more about vision and where are we headed and why. We've had those conversations and we'll continue to work at it, but priority for us is absolutely to sign Linus and he and his agent both know that."

4. Granato in the mix for head coach

Adams said it has been his opinion from the beginning that interim head coach Don Granato be a part of the conversation to retain the position on a permanent basis.
"For sure, Donnie Granato is a person that I absolutely think is in the mix for this and should be," Adams said. "He's a great hockey guy, he's a great person and it think the important thing is the players do have a lot of respect for him and that goes a long way as well."
The Sabres are 4-7-2 under Granato, who took over on March 17 with the team mired in a winless streak that would eventually extend to 18 games. They are 4-2-1 since that streak ended and have embraced a faster-paced, possession-based game.
Perhaps most promising of late has been the success of young players who began the season without an everyday spot in the lineup. Casey Mittelstadt has assumed a top-six center role and tallied seven points in his past seven games. Tage Thompson has three goals and an assist in that span while Rasmus Asplund has four goals and an assist in eight games under Granato.
Adams said he has seen a team playing more on its toes and one that's surer of its decisions on the ice since Granato took over. Increasing the intensity and frequency of practices has translated to a more competitive product in games.
"So, Donnie's done a nice job," he said. "He's a hockey coach. He's a guy that shows up every day prepared. He's been around the game a long time. He's been a head coach for a number of years, obviously, you guys know that. And the guys really like playing for him."

5. No update yet on Eichel

Adams said the hope remains for the Sabres captain to return from his upper-body injury by the end of the season but added there is no certainty on a timetable.
"He was recently again looked at by the doctors and a slight improvement from where he was at before," Adams said. "I don't want to go too much further than that, but it does look like he's still going to be out for a while, so where that puts him in terms of return, we'll have to see. It would be great get him in, even if it was late in the season, but I'm just not sure."

6. Assistant GM remains a priority

Adams said he had "very serious" discussions with a potential candidate over the past week.
"It's a priority," he said. "It's a huge hire in terms of how we're putting together the hockey department and structure and, like I said before, we need to build the front office back up.
"We need to hire more scouts, we need to make sure that we're putting the pieces in place from our front office right through the scouting department, player development department and just make sure that as we move forward, we're having the right people in the right positions."

7. What's ahead

The Sabres have 15 games remaining, an opportunity for young players to continue to prove themselves within a schedule that presents Stanley Cup contenders like Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh, and the New York Islanders on an every-other-day basis.
The final stretch will also be a chance for more young players to earn looks out of Rochester, for Granato to continue to show the front office how he leads a team, and for newcomers Bjork and Drake Caggiula - who was acquired on waivers from Arizona last week - to make a first impression.

The Sabres visit the Bruins on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30.