Updated:
Max Domi has in fact found new representation. Domi has signed with Darren Ferris at Quartexx Management, which also reps Domi's former London Knights teammate Mitch Marner as well as Taylor Hall.
With his new agent in place, it's time for Max Domi to find a new NHL team to play for with which to negotiate a new long term contract extension.
See: Buffalo Sabres
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Summer lovin’. Had me a blast. Summer lovin’ happened so fast.
Hey, Kevyn Adams!
What are you waiting for?
Your fan base is losing its religion. The zeal and passion is at risk of compressing. The NFL Buffalo Bills will be kicking off their 2020 season soon and #BillsMafia are projected to be the AFC East champs now that Tom Brady is gone from the division.
The Sabres are at peril of losing the room to their ultra-competitive older brothers ,the Bills.
It’s been nearly six months since the Sabres last played a meaningful game on March 9.
The last time the Sabres took the ice, it squandered a 2-0 third-period but rallied to snap a six-game losing streak by beating the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Dominik Kahun's goal in the seventh round of a shootout.
Adams wasn’t employed as a member of the Buffalo management team the last time his team played.
It’s been a while. Two and a half months to be exact since June 16, when the Pegulas fired Jason Botterill. Adams was abruptly promoted from Senior Vice President of Business Administration Kevyn Adams to General Manager.
On Tuesday, the calendar will flip to September and the urgency, intensity and tempo is increasing under the skates of Kevyn Adams.
While Adams has been learning on the job, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs have been a monumental success and have captivated the hearts and minds of hockey mad consumers in Western New York.
Loyal Sabres fans have found their hockey jones while having steamy summer affairs with other NHL clubs. The return to the iconic royal blue and gold color scheme won’t be enough to lure Sabres fans away from the embrace of their summer hockey flings. If you can’t be with the one you love , love the one you’re with.
The Eastern and Western Conference are on the precipice of their respective conference finals and Kevyn Adams still has a lot of work to do to make the 2020-21 vintage of the Buffalo Sabres are respectable wild card contending team.
Namely, finding a bona fide second line center to play behind Jack Eichel and ahead of rookie Dylan Cozens at 3C. The seventh overall pick at the 2019 NHL Draft, Cozens has scored 94 goals and 128 assists in his three seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. At 6'3" and 190 lbs., Cozens is big, strong, fast, highly skilled and possesses a cannon for a shot. Cozens is ready for prime time in Buffalo when the 2020-21 season begins in December.
Adams also is tasked with hiring his assistant general manager and appoint his scouting staff.
Adams does not need to trade winger like Taylor Hall. The Sabres need a second line center like yesterday.
Nobody said it would be easy for Adams.
Cue "heavy is the head that wears the crown", by Zac Brown and the late great Chris Cornell.
Adams has inherited the
“2C Crisis” from Jason Botterill.
Adams cannot patch this gaping hole in the middle of his NHL roster with Flex Seal, duct tape and dry wall.
I’m imploring you to stay away from the Dollar General.
Stiffs, has-beens and never-will-be pivots are not invited to this party.
Kevyn Adams needs to make a hockey trade and he needs to make it now. No better time than the present.
Buffalo’s rookie general manager must summon the strength and boldness to manufacture a blockbuster trade to deliver a legit second line pivot to the summer home of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Adams has the opportunity to help his franchise to stop the bleeding. He has the financial and personnel assets to make a hockey trade with a salary cap challenged club. The flat cap is presenting HUGE challenges for several teams. Adams has the 8th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, plus, prospects and $34 million in available salary cap availability. Am I advocating for Adams to blow his 2020 first rounder on a Johnny Come Lately centerman?
Hell no. Adams must make a careful decision to secure the elusive unicorn 2C that has been absent from Buffalo since Ryan O’Reilly was traded prematurely to the most recent Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2018.
When the Montreal Canadiens traded Alex Galchenyuk for Max Domi in June 2018, it was done to insert Domi as the top pivot for Les Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge.
In his first season in Montreal, Domi potted 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points in 82 games played. Domi scored 17 goals and 27 assists in 2019-20.
In 375 career NHL regular season games, Domi has scored 81 goals and 170 assists for 251 points.
Suddenly, Domi, 25, has become the odd man out at center ice in Montreal. While centers Phillip Danault, Nick Suzuki and Jasperi Kotkaniemi combined for 9 goals and 5 assists in 10 playoff games, Domi was relegated to fourth line center status by Claude Julien.
Domi’s offensive production makes him the seventh highest scoring player from the 2013 NHL Draft where he was selected 12th overall.
Domi wants the puck on his stick at all times. He can’t play to the top of his ability level riding shotgun for Kotkaniemi on the third line in Montreal.
In Domi’s defense, he hasn’t lost the ability to succeed a top six center role in the NHL.
Domi has become a victim of circumstance. Marc Bergevin and Claude Julien have found immediate gratification with the Danault-Suzuki-Kotkaniemi power cluster. Domi, a pending RFA, is the odd man out at center for the Habs which makes him a must-have for the Sabres. Domi earned $3.15M AAV this season and would likely shake hands on a long-term deal at a $5.75 million to $6 million average annual value.
Danault has transformed his overall game and will be a Selke consideration moving forward. Danault will be UFA after next season. Marc Bergevin will want to retain Danault for the long term.
Domi’s health was a serious consideration heading into the Toronto bubble for the return to play plan for the NHL. The NHL pause lasted for four months as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. Domi is a Type-1 Diabetic and there were questions about the serious risk factors regarding Domi's co-morbidities.
When the NHL opened up training camps on July 13, Domi was not in attendance. However, he joined his Canadiens teammates a week later. When he finally hit the ice for practice, Domi was skated with fourth liners Dale Weise and Jordan Weal.
Domi had every right to question Claude Julien's decision to dump him down to the fourth line. To his credit, Domi kept his mouth shut and played the hand he was dealt.
If I'm Domi, I'm looking carefully for a new top six opportunity elsewhere.
There is talk that Domi is in the process of switching player agents. Domi is currently linked to CAA.
Domi has an immediate support group in Buffalo where has a great relationship with Sabres’ veteran forwards Samson Reinhart and Curtis Lazar. Domi and Reinhart were line mates on Team Canada’s 2015 World Junior Championship gold medal winning team. The line of Domi-Reinhart-Duclair combined for 14 goals and 15 assists in 7 games played. The trio finished the tourney at +34. Lazar, the captain of the gold medal winning squad, added 5 goals and 4 assists.
Domi, the former London Knights star, would add the swagger and production at 2C the Sabres have been missing since Ryan O'Reilly packed his guitar case and achieved idol status by becoming an All Star, Conn Smythe Award, Selke Award, Stanley Cup champion in St. Louis.
ROR aced his audition in The Loo.
The Habs also have a decision to make on center prospect Ryan Poehhling, who was the 25th overall pick at the 2017 NHL Draft. Poehling cannot seem to crack the Montreal starting lineup.
If Domi isn’t getting his top six center job back, Poehling certainly will not be getting his chance to play top nine center in Montreal where Danault, Suzuki and Kotkaniemi are holding down the fort at center ice.
At 6’2” and 210 lbs., the lefty Poehling is just 21 years of age. He’s entering the final year of his entry level contract. I don’t see the St. Cloud State product sticking and staying in Montreal.
The Sabres have a glaring need at 2C, organizational depth at center and Adams can add immediate depth by trading for the duo of Domi and Poehling.
What’s in it for Marc Bergevin, you say?
The Habs’ defense struggled against the Flyers. Bergevin needs some more jam and skill in his top four left D group. Veteran Colin Miller plays
The Sabres have an abundance of NHL-quality defensemen to use as currency to acquire Domi and Poehling. Ralph Kreuger is pushing prospects Will Borgen and Jacob Bryson to come to training camp to earn a top six roster spot.
Veteran Colin Miller plays the left and right sides. Miller would be an immediate upgrade to Montreals' top four as compared to Brett Kulak. The Sabres also have veteran left defenseman Jake McCabe to use as trade bait. In 2020-21, the Canadiens will benefit greatly from the addition of rookie defenseman Alex Romanov, who came over to North America from Russia during the time the Habs were playing in the Toronto playoff bubble.
Bergevin is also looking to get back in the top ten of the 2020 NHL Draft. There was a time that Montreal owned the ninth overall pick in the Alexis Lafrenière draft. The Canadiens now own the 17th overall pick.
If I’m Kevyn Adams, I am packaging my 2020 first rounder with Colin Miller in exchange for Max Domi and Ryan Poehling, who just so happened to play at the USNDTP. It just so happens that new Rochester Amerks head coach Seth Appeart recently worked at the USNDTP as did Sabres’ new director of scouting Jeremiah Crowe.
To add another level of intrigue to the Domi-Poehling pairing heading to Buffalo, it is important to note that Poehling is represented by O2K Sports Management, the agency owned by Eustace King and Matt Oates. When he retired from the NHL in 2009, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams was a partner at 02K, where he joined his former college hockey teammates King anad Oates. The three played together at Miami of Ohio and have remained friends ever since.
Perhaps Adams' first ever trade as an NHL general manager will get assists from his two college hockey teammates.
Adams can get by with a little help from his friends.
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Stay tuned.
I will share with you my thoughts on the possibility of the St. Louis Blues trading second line center Brayden Schenn to the Buffalo Sabres in order to create salary cap space with which to re-sign captain Alex Pietrangelo.
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Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
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