As yet another summer of discontent for Buffalo Sabres fans comes to an end, the team returned to KeyBank Center today to begin preparations for the 2025-26 NHL season. Kevyn Adams, entering his sixth season as general manager, and Lindy Ruff, entering his second season as head coach, spoke to the assembled media this morning as players reported to the Sabres for training camp physicals ahead of their first on-ice session Thursday.

Among the topics at hand, injury designations were perhaps the most newsworthy. Alex Tuch is day-to-day with what was described by Adams as a “minor thing.” Forward Jordan Greenway will be out until closer to the beginning of the season following a surgery this offseason for an issue that plagued him all of last year.

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s injury is still the most unclear of the bunch and Adams’s comments on the subject didn’t do much to clarify the severity of the ailment.

“I’m really being honest with you guys; it’s day-to-day, but could it stretch a little longer? Yes. Do we think that will happen? No, but he may not be on the ice the first day of practice. We’ll see how the first three or four days go,” Adams said.

Lindy Ruff was likewise non-committal on UPL’s immediate future and offered some thoughts on recently signed goaltender Alexandar Georgiev whom Ruff coached during his stint as an assistant coach with the Rangers.

“UPL is a situation right now where we don’t really know where that’s going to go,” Ruff said. “I’m optimistic that this is going to be a little short term but we still have to protect ourselves. Georgiev, obviously, I had him when he was young in New York, and he’s proven to be a quality goaltender.”

Ruff continued on to say that he spoke with Georgiev about the goalie’s state of mind several times prior to the team formalizing an agreement.

The mysterious lower body injury watch will continue.

Adams also addressed the return of defenseman Bo Byram who was re-signed to a two-year deal worth $6.25m per year this offseason despite some chatter relating to a possible trade rather than an extension.

“I try to be as honest as I can with (the media) and when I kept telling you over and over again that my intention was to keep Bo Byram on the team, I was being honest,” Adams said. “I think he’s a really good hockey player. I did not want to trade him.”

 Byram, according to Adams, still believes he can elevate his game further, which explains the two-year deal rather than a long-term compact. It’s a smart gamble on Byram’s part who will likely be paired with Rasmus Dahlin as he was last year. Byram should be able to cash in somewhere on a lucrative deal in two years if he’s able to put up good offensive numbers playing with one of the league’s premier defenseman. 

That pairing, and the defense as a whole will need to be up to the challenge if the Sabres are to avoid missing the playoffs for a 15th straight time. The GM certainly thinks they’re as advertised.

“I think we have an elite ‘d’ corps, I really do,” Adams said.

Ruff echoed the need for the defense to be a difference making element for the Sabres this year while also downplaying the loss of 27-goal scorer JJ Peterka.

“Not many teams have a 44-goal scorer, a 37-goal scorer and a couple 20 goal scorers,” Ruff said. “We need to be better about keeping it out of our net, (rather than) scoring more goals.”

Aside from his excitement about the defense, if you were looking for a Rex Ryan type pronouncement about the playoffs (“Get ready, we’re going) from Adams, well you’re going to be disappointed. When asked about a sense of urgency, Adams was vague, and as has become something of a trademark for him, weary of media coverage.

“I can stand up here all day and explain why we’ve made moves, or what I’m excited about with the roster, and it really doesn’t matter,” Adams grinned. “You guys are going to write what you’re going to write, or say what you’re going to say on the tv or radio and that’s fine. We need to win.”

That’s for sure. And credit where credit is due – Adams completed the press conference without a self-inflicted wound of the palm-trees-and-taxes type.

Adams didn’t say much about a Tuch contract extension other than to reiterate that Tuch is a person who wants to be here and the team is in contact with his representation. Pretty standard fare from Adams all around. As both Adams and Ruff said, fans really don’t want or need to hear any talking from the organization about winning anymore. Adams is completely out of runway when it comes to faith in his ability to lead the team and the only thing that will change that is to win games. 

That process starts today now that the talking is done.