Kevyn Adams looking forward to ‘full circle’ opportunity with Bruins

After more than three decades, Kevyn Adams is finally a member of the Boston Bruins.

Adams was a first-round draft pick of the B’s in 1993 but never signed here, instead fashioning a 540-game NHL career with six different franchises, a journey that included a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

But last week, Adams came home, so to speak, as the Bruins officially announced he had been hired as a senior advisor to general manager Don Sweeney.

“A quick 33 years,” said Adams with a chuckle during a conversation with the Herald on Friday. “As I said to some of the guys, this may have been the longest it’s taken someone to sign after they got drafted. Full circle. It’s great.”

Adams comes to the B’s after five-plus seasons as general manger of the Buffalo Sabres, getting let go last December as the Sabres, long the laughing stock of the league, were just getting going. Buffalo had not made the playoffs in 14 years but, with the roster that Adams constructed, the club finally turned a corner and broke that skid, making the playoffs and beating the B’s in the first round.

But Adams could only watch from afar as the city’s love affair with the Sabres was rekindled.

His tenure was marked by some top players being traded from the organization and finding success elsewhere, the most notable being Jack Eichel. The two sides had differing opinions about how to treat the herniated disc in the star center’s neck. He eventually was traded to Vegas, got the surgery he wanted and won a Cup in Sin City.

That was a hard to swallow for many Buffalo fans, but Adams did get some pieces in return (Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and the draft pick that turned into Noah Ostlund) that would play important roles in the turnaround. He also moved current Bruins forward Casey Mittelstadt to Colorado for Bowen Byram and JJ Peterka for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan, who has turned out to be an impact player for the Sabres. He also locked up Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Ryan McLeod and Mattias Samuelsson to long-term deals.

Buffalo was ready for a return to relevancy. But at the time of Adams firing and replaced by his advisor, Jarmo Kekalainen, the Sabres had gotten off to a 14-14-4 start and it looked like the same ol’ Sabres. He would have to settle for delayed gratification, but it did come.

“I’d been with the organization for a long time in different roles (including assistant coach and VP of business administration), so when I started as general manager, there was a lot of change coming in terms of what we had to do,” Adams said. “Obviously, there was the navigating of the Jack Eichel situation with the challenges on the medical side. That was very difficult. But once we were in that position, it was going to have to be a complete reset. And it was really, to me, an amazing opportunity to put a whole plan and vision together and really try to build the organization, through the draft and the right way and right players.

“Are you going to sign everybody? No. But we tried to get ahead and get the core group of players on long-term contracts that are now there. You make some trades to try build your team. And obviously, I’m super-excited for the organization, for the city. I felt very confident going into last season that the team was ready to take a big step and ultimately they did. I’m proud of the people there, I’m proud of the job that we did. But now I’m ready for the next chapter and I’m excited about Boston.”

Adams said he learned many things as a GM while in Buffalo. But he was heartened to see that he was on the right track.

“Having the ability to put a plan together through even challenges and pressure and adversity, to stick to the plan and see it turn into success is something that’s exciting and it gave me a lot confidence over the last few months, even though I wasn’t a part of it,” Adams said. “But what we did as a staff and the decisions that we made were really strong.”

Adams said he got to know Sweeney well over the years through interactions at league meetings and the routine conversations GMs have with each other throughout the season. He said the two developed a good relationship. With the B’s front office going through some upheaval and restructuring – both assistant GMs Jamie Langenbrunner and Evan Gold left the organization – Sweeney reached out to the Sabres to get permission to hire Adams and it got done.

What exactly does a senior advisor to the GM do? Adams wanted to know that, too, in his conversation with Sweeney and team president Cam Neely. As it turns out, it will be a little bit of everything.

“Ultimately, I’m here to pitch in wherever I can and whenever I can to help,” Adams said. “I’m in an advisor role and I’m coming from a different organization and have a lot of experience in different things I’ve been in and ways I’ve handled different things. I’m just going to bring that experience to the Bruins on a day-to-day day basis and wherever I’m needed whether that’s to be around the team or pro scouting or amateur scouting. And obviously I’ll delve a lot in the trades and the drafts and anywhere I can pitch in, I’m more than willing to help.”

Before he was officially hired, he was already consulted on one trade, that of Peterka, who was obtained at the draft for two first-round picks. Ironically, Adams had traded Peterka a year ago to Utah, which then signed him to a five-year deal worth an average annual value of $7.7 million. Despite moving him not long ago, Adams did not give a bad review.

“I obviously know JJ very well. I drafted him, he went through our system in Rochester and then became a tremendous player in Buffalo, an impact player. So I know JJ very well and I have a really good, strong relationship with JJ,” Adams saod. “I was able to lend my opinion and experience from the hockey side of things, certainly, but also just in terms as a person and what he can do and bring to the Bruins organization. I’m super-excited that JJ’s in Boston and we’re going to reconnect and I’m looking forward to watching him score a lot of goals this year.”

While Adams, 51, didn’t get the personal payoff, the end result in Buffalo showed he can put together a team. He would like to get a crack at another GM job sometime down the line.

“For sure,” he said. “Right now, I’m really focused on what can I do to help the Boston Bruins win. But, yeah. I think I learned a ton. I had a great experience the first time around and, if the right opportunity presented itself, it’s certainly something I’d be open to. I’d obviously have that discussion with Donnie and Cam first. But yeah, it’s something I’d be open to down the road, for sure.”