At the start of this week, the Buffalo Sabres’ fanbase was greeted with some of the biggest news that they have had in a long time. Kevyn Adams, their longest-tenured general manager (GM) since Darcy Regier, was relieved of his duties and former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen was hired in his stead to replace him. With the Sabres facing yet another year of missing the playoffs, making a change at this point in the season is pivotal for them and could have a significant impact. What will matter is how Kekalainen evaluates his new team and makes adjustments.
Figure Out the Alex Tuch Situation
Lingering over the team’s head has been whether or not Alex Tuch will sign a contract extension, or if they will need to trade him for a new piece on their team. Since this past summer, the rumor mill has been churning about what dollar amount he could be asking for, or if he even wanted to re-sign at all, and it has been taxing on the morale of the fanbase. Knowing that a fan favorite may no longer want to play for their “hometown” team because of how poorly they have been playing is heartbreaking, and to have no answer from their GM at the time was even more infuriating as the season went along.
With Kekalainen now at the helm, one of his first orders of business should be to figure out if Tuch is going to be remaining a Sabre beyond this season, or if he needs to be moved for a piece that can help them now. Tuch has a good amount of value due to his two-way capability, and could be traded to a bunch of teams, especially since he only carries a cap hit of $4.75 million average annual value (AAV). Getting Tuch locked in to being a part of this team again, or moving him for players that can start to grow their culture, is critical. As they approach the midway point of the season, they cannot afford to let this linger any longer.
Make Coaching Changes
In his debut press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 16, Kekalainen stated that he is evaluating every part of the organization, and that includes the coaching staff. While he seemed to be giving some assurances that head coach Lindy Ruff has a chance to prove himself, along with the other coaches, these assurances need to have some short leashes. With the players not always responding to the coaching staff well and following the game plan, there needs to be an adjustment from the top.
The low-hanging fruit in this case are assistant coaches Seth Appert and Mike Bales. Appert is known to be in charge of the abysmal Sabres power-play strategy, which serves as a constant reminder of what zone entries should never look like. Then there is Bales, who is the goaltending coach. With the Sabres’ goaltending having very subpar numbers again this season, it calls for a potential new coach there as well.
If Kekalainen decides to stick with Ruff for the remainder of the season and does not opt for a new head coach, he should allow him the autonomy to pick his own coaching staff and remove the ones that are not cutting it; a luxury that was not afforded to him in the prior regime. Should he decide to look elsewhere, then he should clean house and start over with the coaching staff.
Move Out the Dead Weight
The Sabres have too many players that are just dead weight to them. Too many players that either don’t work well in their system, or do not fit the culture of what their team is supposed to be. Players like Peyton Krebs, Jordan Greenway, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Owen Power, and Jack Quinn all have fallen out of the identity of the Sabres, and Kekalainen should look to move on from some of, or all of them. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with these players. Each of them has their own value and talents, but when it comes down to how they play the game with their teammates, they no longer fit in.
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The Sabres have plenty of young forwards in Rochester that have been playing well to earn their call-ups and play in the stead of these players mentioned. On top of that, they have three NHL goalies on their roster, which is wasting a space that could otherwise be used when needed (Colten Ellis is currently injured, but he is still considered to be viable to their rotation when healthy). Kekalainen has shown in the past that he is willing to make bold moves with his roster, and he absolutely could with some of these names. This roster needs a revamp or adjustment of some sort, and he has the pieces ripe and ready to do it.
Change Is Good, and Kekalainen Is Not Afraid of It
If his press conference made one thing clear, it was that he does not intend to shoot for short-term success. He said the phrase, “we are trying to win a Stanley Cup” or some variation of it multiple times, and while fans have heard it before and had it feel empty, there was a bit more substance and heart this time; some more vigor to the words. The direction of the team has not been one of balance or even entertainment for a couple of years now. Making changes in multiple places can revitalize that for both the players and the fans. It will be an interesting next few weeks to see what Kekalainen actually does. Only time will tell.
