In the throes of another difficult season that would result in missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 15th straight campaign if they were to begin today, the Buffalo Sabres decided a course correction was necessary.
Team owner Terry Pegula announced earlier in the week that general manager Kevyn Adams, who had been on the job since 2020, had been relieved of his duties. Pegula then immediately named Jarmo Kekäläinen as the club’s new general manager.
The news was taken hard by some of the players, like Alex Tuch, whom Adams acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the blockbuster Jack Eichel deal.
“It’s always tough when you go through a change like that,” Tuch told Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald on Wednesday. “I think it’s something that we don’t take lightly is that it’s on us. We’re a big reason why a man lost his job. We weren’t getting the results that needed to happen, and we feel terrible about that.
“We need to be better in this locker room,” Tuch continued. “Kevyn was an awesome person. I owe him a lot. He brought me into this organisation. [I’ll] always be grateful to him and every opportunity he’s given me.”
Tuch, who is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, will now have his representation try to negotiate a new contract with Kekäläinen rather than Adams.
“I think Jarmo was in somewhat of the negotiations before, so he’s familiar with what was going on,” Tuch said. “Just going to let my agent handle it, and I stay out of it.”
Meanwhile, Kekäläinen has already said that his intention is to keep Tuch in Buffalo and that they want to get him signed to a new deal.
“I’ll take charge of that situation,” Kekäläinen said. “We appreciate him, we like him. We want to get him signed.”
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Buffalo Sabres Coach Lindy Ruff Feels He Let Adams Down
The sentiments of Tuch were shared by head coach Lindy Ruff, whom Adams hired to take over the head coaching responsibilities for the second time in the veteran bench boss’s career.
“I’ve been through them, they’re not easy days,” Ruff said of Adams’ dismissal. “There’s days that it’s a part of this business. I felt sad. I felt like I let my GM down and that I didn’t get the job done.”
So far this season, the Sabres have complied a 14-14-4 record and are in last place in the Atlantic Division standings.
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Sabres Owner Terry Pegula Felt A Shift in Direction was Needed
Immediately after the decision was announced that Adams had been relieved of his duties, Pegula explained to Sabres fans that the franchise had fallen short of expectations and that the move was necessary.
“We are not where we need to be as an organisation, and we are moving forward with new leadership within our hockey operations department,” Pegula said. “We are dedicated to building an organisation that is competitive year after year, and we have fallen short of that expectation.”
Since purchasing the Sabres in February 2011, Pegula has seen his club in the postseason only once, and it was months after his purchase in April 2011.
Top Sabres Forward Shoulders Blame After Kevyn Adams’ Firing