With Ted Nolan and Pat LaFontaine in charge, opportunities could await Sabre prospects like Rochester leading scorer Luke Adam.
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A few days into the job, interim Sabre coach Ted Nolan is already looking at making changes. With the club in full rebuild mode, the veteran coach made some strong observations in a John Vogl piece that appeared in the Buffalo News.

“There’s some maneuvering room we can do here,” Nolan stated. We checked the farm team, see who’s going well down there. There’s a couple players playing exceptionally well down there that deserve an opportunity. We’ve been tweaking. We’re going to meet right after this and see what we can do.”

One player he could be referencing is Luke Adam. The former ’08 second round pick leads Rochester in four offensive categories including goals (13), points (18), power play goals (7) and shots on goal (50). Still only 23, the 6-2 206-pound left-handed center got a big taste of the NHL in ’11-12 posting 10 goals and 10 assists over 52 games. Last year, he only got into four NHL contests scoring once. He spent most of his second pro season with the Americans placing fourth in team scoring with 37 points (15-22-37). Perhaps another opportunity is forthcoming for a forgotten prospect.

Center Phil Varone has spent three years in Rochester. Since signing an entry-level deal with Buffalo on Mar. 19, 2012, he’s been productive. A big rookie year in ’11-12 which saw him pace the Amerks with 41 assists and 52 points led to that contract. His second season, he posted 11 goals and 35 points in 62 contests. In 15 games thus far, he has four goals and a team-leading 13 helpers for 17 points ranking second behind Adam.

Defenseman Brayden McNabb is third with 12 points (2-10-12). The 22-year old Slovak was a Western Conference AHL All-Star tallying five goals and 31 assists in 62 games last year. In ’11-12, he posted eight points (1-7-8) in 25 games with the Sabres.

Some challenging decisions face Nolan and new club President of Hockey Operations, Pat LaFontaine. They must decide what’s best for a young roster that features recent number one picks Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko. That list also includes Rasmus Ristolainen and Johan Larsson.

“We have so many young guys here, and it’s almost like going back to junior hockey in some sense,” Nolan added following Monday’s morning skate. “Patty and I have been talking for the last three, four days about that. I didn’t realize how young they really were and the positions that they’re in and the capabilities of what they can do besides playing here.

Under former GM Darcy Regier, that plan was obvious. Go with youth and lose as many games as possible for better draft position. However, a rebuild doesn’t work that way. You can’t rush kids. The development stage is crucial.

“We’re going to try to get this thing on proper footing going forward and putting people in position of success versus force-feeding them,” Nolan said. “You see some good organizations and how they go about it. You don’t force-feed somebody and say we’re rebuild. Rebuild is important, but how you rebuild is really important.

“Like I said, Patty and I have been talking about it since we got involved. I think you can have some young kids, a few of them, but not as many as we have.”