Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and his staff have been hard at work this offseason as they prepare the team to take the next step behind head coach Lindy Ruff, who made his return to Buffalo in April.

In a busy offseason, the Sabres selected center Konsta Helenius with the 14th-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft before adding forwards Beck Malenstyn, Jason Zucker, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel along with defenseman Dennis Gilbert on the opening day of free agency.

On Tuesday, Sabres fans had the opportunity to go behind the scenes with Adams, Ruff, and Buffalo’s hockey department during the draft in Las Vegas and the beginning of free agency in the latest episode of “Buffalo Sabres: Embedded.”

Here’s what we learned from the episode, “Welcome to the Family.”

1. Improving the roster

The Sabres had several pre-draft meetings ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, in which Adams made his goals for the offseason very clear. In a behind-the-scenes look at the staff’s pre-draft meeting in Vegas, Adams shared his vision for the days ahead: improving the Sabres roster to make the team better now, exhausting all options through the draft, trades, and free agency, and progressing in current contract negotiations.

After months of analyzing players and debating to form its final list, the front office met one final time before Round 1 of the draft, where Adams and the group debated trading down from the 11th-overall pick to acquire pick No. 14 and an additional pick.  

Assistant general manager Jerry Forton felt it was a “no brainer” to move down three spots to acquire an early second-round pick after calculating the risks while Adams thought that the additional asset could also potentially be used in a trade to make the roster better.

“I was willing to take the risk to go down to 14 and be 99 percent comfortable that we were going to end up with the same player at 14 that we were going to get at 11,” Forton said.

2. Helenius: A “natural” center

Adams made the final decision to trade the No. 11 pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the 14th-overall pick and pick No. 42. Following the selection of Helenius in Round 1, the episode took a close look at what made him stand out as a good fit for the Sabres while sharing key moments from his NHL Combine interview with the team.

The Sabres’ hockey department liked Helenius’ ability to be a true center along with a number of other attributes the group was looking for in its first pick.

“He truly is a natural center,” Adams said. “This kid has it, and he’s a center all day long.”

Helenius and his family also had the opportunity to meet and mingle with the Sabres coaches and staff in a suite after Round 1 of the draft, which Adams said allows the players to understand the organization’s culture from the moment they hear their names called.

The episode followed Helenius, who was smiling ear to ear, as he took in the ensuing moments following the pick.

3. Trading picks

Several teams had interest in Buffalo’s two second-round picks (42nd overall and 43rd overall), including the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. Adams considered all the options and chose to trade pick No. 43 to acquire Malenstyn from the Washington Capitals, who Adams had been in contact with in the days leading up to the trade.

Adams shared that the team had been looking at and targeting Malenstyn for a while because they believe he is the type of player that can make the Sabres roster better now. The Sabres’ GM felt the addition of Malenstyn addressed current needs of a physical, fast, and versatile fourth line while also using the pick to bring in a proven NHL player.

The Sabres made another trade in Round 3, acquiring pick No. 71 from Colorado in exchange for the 76th-overall pick and pick No. 161. The episode showed Forton at the draft table telling Adams and the front office staff that they would probably need to move up in order to get the player they were targeting, Brodie Ziemer.

Buffalo was able to select Ziemer with the 71st-overall pick and was very excited about the move.  

“We had what we considered to be a big drop off in the draft and on our list if we didn’t get him with that third-round pick,” Forton said.

4. Free agent frenzy

As the episode moved into the opening day of free agency, the camera showed Adams making numerous phone calls as he aimed to bring in more physical and fast forwards to round out the bottom six.

The episode shows Adams’ conversations with players and staff as he brought in Zucker, Lafferty, Aube-Kubel, and Gilbert to build a team that can wear other teams out and take on a more physical identity.

The hockey department was pleased with what it was able to accomplish to kick off free agency.

5. The next chapter

Adams ended the episode with a strong message as the team approaches the upcoming season and a new chapter with Ruff.

“I’m really excited about the season, to be honest with you,” Adams said. “I can’t wait for September to roll around. I think we have a special group. I think that we have a coach that is completely respected across the league, just what he’s done in the game. And I think that he’s going to send a strong message Day 1 that we can talk about being a good team, we can talk about this, but it’s now. We’re doing this now.”