Detroit News staff and wires
The Vancouver Canucks shored up their future depth, signing Birmingham’s Max Sasson to a two-year extension with an average annual value of $1 million.
General manager Patrik Allvin announced the move Monday, saying in a statement that the 25-year-old forward has made the most of the opportunities presented to him and provided solid play for the Canucks.
Sasson has played in 29 games for Vancouver this season, hitting career highs in goals (six), points (eight) and average ice time (11:02).
He contributed three goals and four assists over 29 games with the NHL team last season.
Sasson has also logged 106 regular-season games for the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks, notching 78 points and he helped the team to a Calder Cup title last spring.
The six-foot-one, 181-pound Sasson originally signed with Vancouver as an undrafted free agent after playing two years at Western Michigan in March 2023.
Sabres fire GM Adams
Buffalo, N.Y. – 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. Kekalainen 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 Kekalainen. “I am humbled to be the steward of this team and look forward to experiencing the passion that Sabres fans bring to every game.”
Kekalainen’s promotion comes a day after his father, Kari, died after a lengthy illness at the age of 82. Kekalainen posted a message on his Instagram account, referring to his father as his coach and idol, translated from his native Finnish.
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.
This wasn’t the plan Adams laid out in closing last season by saying everything was on the table to turn the Sabres into competitors.
He opened this season with: “We need to win. And I’m fully aware of that.”
Adams, with input from Ruff, spent the summer adding grit at the expense of offense by trading two-time 20-goal-scorer JJ Peterka to Utah to acquire forward Josh Doan and hulking defenseman Michael Kesselring. The deal has had middling results. While Doan ranks second on the team with 10 goals and third with 23 points, Kesselring has been limited to playing just nine games due to injuries.
Another trade that has yet to pan out involved Buffalo and Ottawa swapping top-line centers, with the Sabres acquiring talented but injury prone Josh Norris for Dylan Cozens in March. Norris appeared in just three games before aggravating an oblique injury last year, and is limited to just six games this season.
Adams has mismanaged Buffalo’s goaltending position, starting with losing Linus Ullmark to free agency in the summer of 2021 after saying he was assured by the goalie he’d re-sign with the team in March. The Sabres have had 11 goalies start at least one game since.
The Sabres are now on their fifth GM since Darcy Regier was fired a month into the 2013-14 season.
Adams is from Buffalo, and a former NHL forward, who won a Stanley Cup title in 2006 with Carolina over his 10-season career.
He had no front-office experience and held a business role with the Sabres when replacing Jason Botterill in June 2020. Botterill’s firing was deemed a cost-cutting move, with Adams purging much of the team’s hockey infrastructure as the NHL dealt with the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic.
Monday NHL
Florida 5, (at) Tampa Bay 2: Sam Reinhart scored a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal to lead the Panthers to a victory over the Lightning.
Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for Florida, which improved to 5-1-1 in the past seven games. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves.
J.J. Moser and Max Crozier scored for Tampa Bay. Brayden Point finished with a pair of assists. Jonas Johansson, making his seventh consecutive start in place of Andrei Vasilevskiy, made 19 saves.
Anaheim 4, (at) N.Y. Rangers 1: Cutter Gauthier scored the go-ahead goal six minutes into the third period and got his second on an empty-netter, Lukas Dostal stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and Anaheim beat New York to end a two-game losing streak.
Defenseman Jackson LaCombe scored Anaheim’s first goal shorthanded in the second period, putting home a rebound after Jacob Trouba sprung Ryan Poehling up the ice late in the Rangers’ 5-on-3 power play.
Matthew Robertson scored the only goal for the Rangers, who have lost 12 of 16 games at home. The shot from Robinson deflected off Frank Vatrano’s stick and popped into the air before going in off Dostal’s.
Nashville 5, (at) St. Louis 2: Filip Forsberg scored his 12th career hat trick, leading Nashville to a victory over St. Louis.
Michael Bunting and Reid Schaefer also scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros stopped 20 shots. Roman Josi and Ryan O’Reilly added two assists each.
Dalibor Dvorsky scored both goals for St. Louis. Joel Hofer finished with 21 saves for the Blues, who have lost three of their last four games.
Ottawa 3, (at) Winnipeg 2 (OT): Brady Tkachuk scored 2:11 into overtime and Ottawa beat Winnipeg.
Nick Cousins and Jake Sanderson also scored for the Senators, and Tim Stutzle had three assists. Linus Ullmark stopped 23 shots in Ottawa’s third win in nine games.
Defensemen Neal Pionk and Logan Stanley scored for the Jets in their fourth loss in five games (1-3-1). Connor Hellebuyck finished with 28 saves.
(At) Dallas 4, L.A. Kings 1: Mikko Rantanen, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist each and Casey DeSmith tied a Dallas record with his 11th consecutive game earning points as the Stars rallied past Los Angeles.
Oskar Back scored his first NHL winning goal for the Stars, who are second in the overall standings and avoided their first three-game losing streak since mid-October.
Los Angeles’ Anton Forsberg stopped 17 shots, entering play with four minutes left in the first period after starter Darcy Kuemper was hit high by Rantanen.
Hawks place Bedard on injured reserve
Chicago – While Connor Bedard is out, the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to replace his production with a collective approach.
It’s going to be quite the challenge.
“It’s going to be on everybody to step up and do their part,” center Jason Dickinson said.
That’s the reality for Chicago with Bedard sidelined for at least two weeks because of an upper-body injury, dealing a major blow to his chances of making Team Canada for the Winter Olympics.
Bedard has turned into one of the NHL’s top players in his third season since he was drafted No. 1 in 2023. The 20-year-old center has a team-high 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games.
The Blackhawks open a three-game trip on Tuesday night at Toronto. They are 3-8-2 in their last 13 games.
“Obviously it sucks, but just need guys to step up and be able to make those plays that he’d make on a night in, night out basis,” center Frank Nazar said.
Bedard got hurt on a draw with 0.8 seconds left in Friday night’s 3-2 loss at St. Louis. He grasped at his right shoulder and immediately headed to the locker room, accompanied by a trainer.
He was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
“We’ll get through the new year and then kind of reevaluate and see where he’s at,” coach Jeff Blashill said after practice.
Blashill declined to get into any specifics with Bedard’s injury, sticking to his upper-body designation. He said Bedard isn’t going to have an operation or procedure right now, but he left open that possibility for down the road.
“Let’s start with the rehab and see where it goes and I’ll have a better update after that,” Blashill said.
Bedard was believed to be a long shot for Canada’s roster for the Milan Cortina Olympics coming into the season. But he made a strong case with his fast start, and the injury robs him of an opportunity for a closing argument.
Canada is expected to announce its loaded roster before Bedard plays again for Chicago.
When it comes to the Blackhawks, Bedard’s absence puts more pressure on Nazar, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato to make the most of their offensive opportunities. Nick Lardis, who made his NHL debut in Saturday night’s 4-0 loss to Detroit, also could help out.
Captain Nick Foligno also is nearing a return from his left hand injury. Blashill said Foligno could play on the team’s road trip.
“Nobody’s going to replace Connor on their own,” Blashill said. “Collectively, as a group, one, I think we needed to do this anyway, we need to be better defensively. … We’re going to have to score those net-front-type goals, the tip-type goals. We’re not going to score from distance the way Connor can score from distance at a regular rate, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re scoring dirtier.”
Also Monday, defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and goaltender Laurent Brossoit were recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League.
Brossoit had been in the minors on a conditioning assignment. Blashill said Brossoit will be placed on waivers and will go back to Rockford if he clears.
Del Mastro, 22, has two goals and four assists in 27 career games with Chicago.
Zibanejad misses team meeting
New York – Mika Zibanejad is not playing for the New York Rangers on Monday night against Anaheim after coach Mike Sullivan said the 32-year-old center broke a team rule by being late for a meeting.
“There are logistical challenges that this city presents sometimes,” Sullivan told reporters after the morning skate in Tarrytown, New York. “But, having said that, I think Mika understands the importance of (the) rules that we all expect of one another. And this is something that, I think, from his standpoint obviously he feels terribly. The one thing about Mika is he’s an honest person. He’s a great human being, and he takes responsibility for it.”
Zibanejad is missing the chance to face former teammates Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, who are playing their first game at Madison Square Garden since getting traded to the Ducks in separate deals. Kreider said he and Trouba visited Zibanejad and his family during their stint in the New York area.
Sullivan expects Zibanejad to play Tuesday night when Vancouver visits for the second half of the Rangers’ back-to-back set. Matt Rempe was expected to return from a lengthy injury absence to fill in for Zibanejad during his one-game punishment.
“It’s certainly not something that we would like to happen, but having said that we believe strongly in the process that we have in place and the process that we have, I think, is important for everyone to understand what the expectations are,” Sullivan said. “Mika understands that as a leader of the team. None of us are perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, and we’ll move by this and he’ll be available (Tuesday night) and he’ll be the player that he’s been for us all year long.”
In his 10th season with the Rangers and 15th in the NHL, Zibanejad is tied for the team lead in goals with 11 and ranks third in points with 25. He’s expected to play for Sweden at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Local schedules
Tuesday
▶ Islanders at Red Wings, 7
Wednesday
▶ Mammoth at Red Wings, 7:30
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 8
Friday
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 7
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Washington, 12:30
Sunday
▶ Washington at Red Wings, 1
▶ Cleveland at Grand Rapids, 4
Tuesday, Dec. 23
▶ Dallas at Red Wings, 6:30
Saturday, Dec. 27
▶ Red Wings at Carolina, 7
▶ Grand Rapids at Milwaukee, 7
▶ Muskegon at NTDP U18, 7
Sunday, Dec. 28
▶ Toronto at Red Wings, 7
▶ Great Lakes Invitational at Grand Rapids
▶ Michigan Tech vs. Miami, 3:37
▶ Michigan State vs. Ferris State, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Muskegon, 3
▶ NTDP U18 at Bowling Green, 7
Monday, Dec. 29
▶ Great Lakes Invitational at Grand Rapids
▶ MSU vs. Michigan Tech or Miami, TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 30
▶ Utica University at NTDP U18, 7
Wednesday, Dec. 31
▶ Winnipeg at Red Wings, 6:30
▶ Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 6
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