ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres are open to moving the No. 9 pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft to help the current roster.
"If there's a way to make our team better and it involved pick nine, we'll have zero hesitation," general manager Kevyn Adams said Tuesday. "In saying that, we also believe we'll get a good player if we make pick nine. So, to me, that's the exciting part of the draft, going through this process, but we're wide open. But our focus remains the same: how do we help our team get better?"
The Sabres have not qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for an NHL-record 14 years. They finished 14th in the Eastern Conference and 26th in the NHL overall with a 36-39-7 record and 79 points, five points fewer than 2023-24.
They entered the season with hopes of rebounding after re-hiring coach Lindy Ruff and adding more NHL experience to their roster in the offseason. Ruff was the coach when Buffalo last made the postseason in the 2010-11 season.
Adams, who was hired as GM in June 2020, had in past years focused on drafting and developing, with the goal of ensuring long-term success. Last offseason, he turned more attention to the present and used one of his assets to add center Ryan McLeod in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers for prospect Matt Savoie (the No. 9 pick in 2022).
"You've got to have teams that want the pick and want to give you NHL players back for the pick," said Sabres assistant GM Jerry Forton, who oversees the amateur scouting. "Nothing would make the amateur staff more excited than if we're helping our team right now and we trade away our first-round pick. So we're always open to that as well."
Buffalo has 10 picks in this year's draft and has selected 27 players in the past three drafts combined.
The first round of the draft will be held at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on Saturday (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1).
"Open to [moving the pick] more than maybe I've been in past years," Adams said. "I think we had to really kind of try to build this organization up the appropriate way. And I do believe in building through the draft and developing players and making sure you have depth in your organization, which I think we've done a really solid job of. …
"But I don't think you want to go into it saying, 'Hey, I'm just moving this pick, no matter what.' These are valuable picks, but you're open to everything. And trust me, the League knows that I'm absolutely open to moving [No. 9] if it's the right deal for us."
