Timothy T. Ludwig-USA Today Sports
With the National Hockey League‘s free-agency frenzy slightly over a month away, the Buffalo Sabres will be faced with some in-house decisions regarding the status of certain players. We intend to look at each situation, provide some analysis (the key word is some) and share our opinion on where they will wind up. Who shall stay and who will depart? We’ll now be moving on to Luke Adam.
Contract Details: Pending restricted free agent
Last Year: Salary of $787,000 and cap hit of $141,000
Age: 22
The Scoop: What a fall from affluence it has been for Luke Adam, who was gelling on a line with Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville when the 2012 season commenced in Europe. Possessing the build of a power forward, he was a terrific match for the two, as they brought their skill sets while he simply stood his ground by the net and waited to pounce on any rebounds. Sadly for Adam, he was placed onto a variety of other lines less than two months later, but still enjoyed a relatively approved year. Now, Adam is in dire straits because he barely cracked the roster at all and his numbers in the AHL were also alarmingly down.
Why They Would Want to Keep Him: With talented line-mates, Adam could be put in a position to raise the bar, just as he did with Vanek and Pominville. Still searching for more proficiency from its centers, the Sabres may want to keep him in the pipeline and be patient; nobody is exactly turning heads in this position and that’s been the case for years now.
What Will Worry Them: Adam did not appear to always have his mind set on the matches and with Brian Flynn outshining him to earn more call-ups, the timing of his struggles could not be worse. Frankly, his success depends on the quality of those surrounding him because he is a goal-mouth presence more than anything else. As crazy as it sounds, considering he’s still a 22-year-old, Adam’s last chance might be on the horizon.
Final Verdict: Another one-year contract is likely the only option Darcy Regier will flirt with if he’s keen on hanging onto Adam. Even that much is questionable though.
Previous Cases: Cody Hodgson, Brian Flynn, Mike Weber, Adam Pardy, Alexander Sulzer.
