Kevyn Adams Has Been Relieved of His Duties

As has been rumored for days now, the Buffalo Sabres have hired Senior Advisor Jarmo Kekäläinen as the team’s new General Manager. Kevyn Adams is seemingly out without any speculated reassignment. At least it has not been announced as of yet, but one would think that would have been included in Owner Terry Pegula’s statement. Kekäläinen will take over immediately and will oversee the trade deadline now for Buffalo as well as the Alex Tuch situation.

Terry Pegula’s statement –

“Kevyn Adams has been relieved of his duties as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.

“I would like to thank Kevyn for his dedication and loyalty to the Buffalo Sabres. 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.

“I have named Jarmo Kekäläinen as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres and he will be overseeing hockey operations, effective immediately. The hiring of Jarmo was the result of an extensive search process in which Jarmo stood out as our top choice for the senior advisor position. Jarmo has distinguished himself over the last eight months, and his experience, professionalism, and drive speaks for itself. I am looking forward to him leading our organization to the next level.”

In Adams’ five and a half years as the Sabres’ GM, the team failed to break their playoff drought amidst a 178-196-42 record. Buffalo went 3-3-0 on their recent road trip and have a .500 points percentage, and still sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.

The decision to remove Adams looked to have been made last week, but with the Sabres away and Kekäläinen having to attend the funeral of his father back home in Finland, this was the earliest the switch could be made.

Kekäläinen brings much needed experience as a former GM in Columbus and has strong knowledge of drafting, trading and team building. He has his work cut out for him though to get this team on the right track. At least Kevyn Adams left him with some talent to either develop or use as assets. Jarmo will have decisions to make with the coaching staff too, this off season or even sooner.

The Sabres will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 10:30 with the new GM.