Buffalo Sabres and the NHL: 2025 - 2026. Adams Fired. Are more changes coming?

[Simon]

39 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

I wonder if the news (and internal knowledge) coming down that management is going to change has already had a positive effect.  

 

That is exactly how I've been seeing it also.

[BillsFan4]

 

[davefan66]

On 12/14/2025 at 11:53 AM, Mike in Horseheads said:

Mike Harrington went all in this morning in TBN of this is the weekend when Adams gets a vacation (permanent). He must know something.

Weird that Adams would go on a road trip with the news the Sabres are having discussions on firing him. Why not do it prior to the road trip? Cut the cord.

[Mike in Horseheads]

47 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

Another excuse why Terry won't pull the plug on Adams... sigh

[May Day 10]

Kevyn Adams fired

 

 

 

He should sell his house and GTFO of WNY with his palm trees and excuses and his university of phoenix fake degree

[Mike in Horseheads]

The three game winning streak didn't save him, thank God

[jayg]

Jarmo Kekäläinen hired as general manager, Kevyn Adams relieved of duties | Buffalo Sabres https://share.google/SWm64Rire9SSXIy4A

 

 

[Jauronimo]

10 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

Kevyn Adams fired

 

 

 

He should sell his house and GTFO of WNY with his palm trees and excuses and his university of phoenix fake degree

He can take Staal with him.

[May Day 10]

Im glad they fired him and didnt try to keep him around to cause Russ Brandon-ish dysfuntion.

 

 

Jarmo.  We will see.  Not exactly the best candidate.  We will see if he is actually allowed to make moves with the front office and coaching too.... or if it is just more of the same.

 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

17 minutes ago, jayg said:

Kevyn Adams relieved of duties

 

[jayg]

38 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

 

That needs to be made into an emoji and a meme.

[davefan66]

1 hour ago, May Day 10 said:

Im glad they fired him and didnt try to keep him around to cause Russ Brandon-ish dysfuntion.

 

 

Jarmo.  We will see.  Not exactly the best candidate.  We will see if he is actually allowed to make moves with the front office and coaching too.... or if it is just more of the same.

 

At least he’s a real GM.

 

Once he was hired, Adams future was in doubt for good reason.

[4merper4mer]

1 hour ago, jayg said:

Jarmo Kekäläinen hired as general manager, Kevyn Adams relieved of duties | Buffalo Sabres https://share.google/SWm64Rire9SSXIy4A

 

 

I don’t want to sound too negative too soon but this dude’s last name looks like a combo of English, Finnish and Braille with all the dots and dashes.  Pick a lane dude.

[T&C]

39 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

I don’t want to sound too negative too soon but this dude’s last name looks like a combo of English, Finnish and Braille with all the dots and dashes.  Pick a lane dude.

Where is the English part?

[BillsFan4]

Any GM with experience is going to have positives and negatives on his resume, but there is absolutely no question that Jarmo is qualified to hold the job.

 

He is in his 28th year as an NHL front office executive.

 

Quote

A native of Kuopio, Finland, Kekäläinen spent parts of 12 seasons as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2013 to 2024, becoming the first European-born general manager in NHL history. During his tenure, Columbus reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times, set a franchise record with 50 wins and 108 points in 2016-17, and captured the organization’s first playoff series win with a first-round sweep of Tampa Bay in 2019.

 

Prior to his time in Columbus, Kekäläinen held executive roles with the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators, serving in positions that included assistant general manager, director of amateur scouting, director of player personnel, and European scout. With St. Louis, he oversaw seven draft classes that produced 32 NHL players, including 12 who went on to play more than 500 NHL games. He also spent three years as general manager of Jokerit in Finland’s top professional league and worked with the Finnish national team program.

 

Kekäläinen played collegiately at Clarkson University and professionally in Finland and Sweden before transitioning into management.

Kevyn Adams was promoted to NHL GM after 1 year in any NHL front office and that was on the business side of the Sabres. He had zero years of experience in any NHL hockey ops dept. or even as a scout.

 

Jarmo has been a GM for 11+ years in the NHL and 3 in Finland and he legitimately worked his way up, holding every role from scout to assistant GM along the way.

 

He’s a very well respected talent evaluator. That’s how he made his name as an executive. Just having his eye as a pro scout alone will be a big boon for the Sabres.

 

I think he’s going to have a clear vision for what type of team he wants to build and he’s aggressive when it comes to making moves. He isn’t going to hang his team out to dry at the deadline if they have a legit shot, or sit on his hands if the team needs changes.

 

I’m just excited to have an experienced GM for the first time under Pegula. It’s crazy that it took this long but I’m glad it finally happened. At least it won’t be the blind leading the blind anymore! lol 

 

and not only does Jarmo have experience, he has 11+ years of experience operating under very cheap ownership in a small market. 

[4merper4mer]

33 minutes ago, T&C said:

Where is the English part?

The K I guess.  Like Dawson Knox.

[Pete]

Kevyn Adams fired!!!!!!

[May Day 10]

We will see if he is allowed his own staff and coaches.  Thats the first and biggest test to see if anything has changed

[Pete]

https://www.nhl.com/news/jarmo-kekalainen-hired-as-buffalo-sabres-gm-kevyn-adams-fired

"I would like to thank Kevyn for his dedication and loyalty to the Buffalo Sabres," Terry Pegula said. "He has been a reliable presence, and we are appreciative of his enduring care and commitment. I personally wish him and his entire family all the best.

"We are not where we need to be as an organization, and we are moving forward with new leadership within our hockey operations department. We are dedicated to building an organization that is competitive year after year, and we have fallen short of that expectation."

[QCity]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

"He has been a reliable presence"

 

 

A "reliable presence." Good lord. Maybe I'm being cynical but that sounds like it was written by AI.

 

Anyway, this is like an early Christmas present (or is it a very late Christmas present that got lost in the mail for 2 years?)