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Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams resounds to questions after the second day of the NHL hockey draft on June 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.George Walker Iv/The Associated Press
The Buffalo Sabres fired general manager Kevyn Adams on Monday in a move made 2 1/2 months into his sixth season, with the team sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and already in jeopardy of extending its NHL-record playoff drought to a 15th year.
The decision was made by team owner Terry Pegula and announced in a press release.
Adams’ replacement was already with the team in Jarmo Kekalainen. The former Columbus Blue Jackets GM was hired by Adams in June to serve as a senior adviser. The 59-year-old Kekalainen is from Finland and was the NHL’s first European-born GM in spending 11 years in Columbus before being fired in February 2024.
“We are not where we need to be as an organization, and we are moving forward with new leadership within our hockey operations department,” Pegula said. “We are dedicated to building an organization that is competitive year after year, and we have fallen short of that expectation.”
The decision to fire Adams comes despite the Sabres enjoying their first three-game winning streak of the season, following a 3-1 victory at Seattle on Sunday night. Buffalo returned home after splitting a six-game road trip and is now off until hosting the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Adams has been criticized for mismanaging the team’s assets, inability to secure a franchise goalie, and failure to address a leadership void that continues to linger on a team that’s finished last in the overall standings four times and no better than 19th during its playoff drought.
Under Kekalainen, the Blue Jackets reached the playoffs five times and set a franchise record with 50 wins and 108 points in 2016-17. He previously held executive roles with the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators. Kekalianen also spent three years as general manager of Jokerit in Finland’s top professional league and worked with the Finnish national team program.
“It is a great honor to be named general manager of the Buffalo Sabres,” said Kekalianen. “I am humbled to be the steward of this team and look forward to experiencing the passion that Sabres fans bring to every game.”
Adams’ missteps also include second-guessing himself for failing to make a roster move to help spark the team during an 0-10-3 skid last season that essentially knocked the Sabres out of contention before Christmas.
Adams entered this season on the hottest of NHL seats and with reportedly two years left on his contract.
He long ago fell out of favor with Sabres fans, who began chanting “Fire Adams” so often the team elected to not introduce the GM as traditionally happens during Buffalo’s season opener in October. Last year, fans brought blow-up palm trees to games in response after Adams lamented the difficulty he had attracting talent to Buffalo because the city has high taxes and no palm trees.
Adams took over in June 2020 and following a last-place finish launched a major rebuilding plan that led to the team trading its top players – highlighted by the deals that sent Jack Eichel to Vegas and Sam Reinhart to Florida. After showing signs of development, and Adams proclaiming the Sabres competitive window opening, the Sabres have instead regressed over the past two seasons.
Buffalo went from finishing with 91 points and one win from ending its playoff drought in 2022-23 to 84 points the next season and 79 last year.
This season, the Sabres (14-14-4) are are once again struggling with consistency in the first half of their second season under coach Lindy Ruff, who is back for a second stint in Buffalo. The Sabres have spent much of the season hovering at .500, have been competitive at home (9-5-2) but have struggled on the road with two of their five wins coming in regulation.
