During his career, Adams played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Phoenix Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks, and was also a former associate coach for the Sabres.

Adams grew up in Clarence, New York and played his youth hockey for the Wheatfield Blades organization at a rink then known as Sabreland, where the Buffalo Sabres used to practice.

During the 1996–97 season, Adams would play for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the International Hockey League (IHL) where he would score 47 points in 82 games.

On January 16, 2002, Adams would be traded alongside Bret Hedican and Tomáš Malec to the Carolina Hurricanes for Sandis Ozoliņš and Byron Ritchie.

[9] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Adams would play for the DEG Metro Stars in Düsseldorf, Germany in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

[11] The Carolina Hurricanes would make the playoffs, defeating the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Carolina would face the Edmonton Oilers in a series that would go to a game 7, which the Hurricanes would win, giving Adams his first Stanley Cup victory.

Adams would continue to struggle, as during the 2006–07 season, he would only score 4 points in 35 games before being traded on January 8, 2007 to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Dennis Seidenberg.