{"id":64937,"date":"2025-06-07T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T11:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/64937\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T11:14:10","slug":"what-jarmo-kekalainen-brings-to-the-sabres-front-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/64937\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jarmo Kekalainen brings to the Sabres front office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cap Raeder first met Jarmo Kekalainen in the summer of 1987. That\u2019s when Raeder, then the Clarkson University hockey coach, picked up the incoming freshman at Boston Logan International Airport.<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t drive directly to Clarkson, a school nestled in New York\u2019s northernmost reaches.<\/p>\n

Raeder first had to go to his cabin in Vermont because he was playing in a local softball tournament that week.<\/p>\n

Nearly four decades later, Raeder chuckled at that memory. His new left winger, a native of Finland, had no choice but to detour to Vermont with Raeder and his family to watch a sport he\u2019d never seen.<\/p>\n

\"Jarmo<\/p>\n

Former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen looks on during the second day of the 2023 NHL draft in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n

George Walker IV, Associated Press file photo<\/p>\n

As it turned out, Kekalainen had lots of questions about softball. He wanted to learn the nuances. As their next two years unfolded together at Clarkson, Raeder didn\u2019t initially see the makings of an NHL scout and general manager in Kekalainen. But he saw sparks of what would turn Kekalainen into a respected hockey mind and a leader in the sport.<\/p>\n

\n People are also reading\u2026\n <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a good decision-maker on the ice,\u201d Raeder said of Kekalainen, a left wing for Clarkson from 1987-89. \u201cHe was solid, and he thought through the game well. Coming from Europe and adjusting to the North American game, back in those days, was a pretty good test. If you could do that, you were pretty hockey savvy \u2013 and Jarmo, he\u2019s tremendously motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same curiosity, motivation and firm hand in making decisions became integral for Kekalainen as an NHL executive. He first served as director of player personnel with the Ottawa Senators, then as an NHL scouting director with the St. Louis Blues. He later became general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2013-24.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"Sabres
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Kekalainen, who is from Finland, became the first European-born general manager in NHL history when he was hired by the Blue Jackets in 2013 and led the team to its four highest point totals in franchise history and five of its six playoff appearances.<\/p>\n

Now, Kekalainen takes on a key role in the Buffalo Sabres\u2019 front office. Hired on May 30 by the Sabres, he will serve as senior advisor, reporting directly to general manager Kevyn Adams and filling what presumably will be a notable position that did not previously exist in the Sabres\u2019 front-office structure.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen has seen every level of the professional game as an administrator, and he\u2019s experienced the highs and lows of being an NHL general manager.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen is known within the NHL as a take-action leader who wields a competitive fire, whether it\u2019s playing pickleball or helping a team launch above its competitive ceiling. He\u2019s also regarded as an individual willing to be progressive, even by unorthodox means. It might involve studying the organizational development of a business that has nothing to do with hockey or taking on a television analyst role in his native Finland.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen, 58, joins the Sabres at a decisive point. They seek their first playoff berth since 2011. They confront the perception that while the pieces are there for success, something is still missing. Kekalainen\u2019s addition, still fresh, will also bring a necessary voice to the front office and to Adams\u2019 brain trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you bring in somebody like Jarmo, who has a boatload of experience and, from what I understand, the people that have worked with him \u2013 he is not afraid to, when you\u2019re asked, to give an opinion and an assessment,\u201d said Ed Olczyk, a TNT commentator who played for 16 seasons in the NHL. \u201cYou want people around you that tell you what you need to know, and not what you want to hear, and that\u2019s very healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking risks to produce success<\/p>\n

A native of Tampere, Finland, Kekalainen played pro hockey from 1989-95, including 27 games with the Boston Bruins and 28 with the Ottawa Senators.<\/p>\n

He retired in 1995 and became an executive with IFK Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League from 1995-99, then became Ottawa\u2019s director of player personnel from 1999-2002. He was the St. Louis Blues\u2019 assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting from 2002-10, then spent three seasons as general manager of Jokerit in the Finnish League before taking the job as Columbus\u2019 general manager in February 2013.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen was also reportedly a finalist to become the New York Islanders general manager this spring, a job that ultimately went to Mathieu Darche.<\/p>\n

About a week after Darche\u2019s May 23 hire, Kekalainen signed on with the Sabres.<\/p>\n

\u201cJarmo evolves,\u201d said John Davidson, a senior advisor and alternate governor with the Blue Jackets \u2013 and the person who hired Kekalainen as GM. \u201cHe understands that times change. He\u2019s a person who really enjoys when times are changing. He wants to stay up and stay ahead of that change.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s open-minded to every aspect of the sport. Analytics, scouting, and I know he\u2019s close to companies in Finland that are world-class, who are really into those things and know how to gather information. He\u2019s worked on that a lot, talking to NFL teams, to pro soccer teams. He\u2019s one of those guys who wants to understand the future and looks at it closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jarmo<\/p>\n

New Sabres senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen made some bold trades during his 11 seasons as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n

Gary Wiepert, Associated Press<\/p>\n

Kekalainen projected the future for the Blue Jackets and moved to make it happen. Columbus earned playoff berths in five of Kekalainen\u2019s first seven seasons (2014, 2017-20). Winning came out of taking risks.<\/p>\n

At the trade deadline in March 2019, he spearheaded major decisions, with a very real goal: Make a playoff run.<\/p>\n

Columbus kept goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and winger Artemi Panarin \u2013 widely considered two significant pieces of trade-deadline bait, as they became free agents that summer and left the Blue Jackets. But he also acquired center Matt Duchene, left wing Ryan Dzingel, defenseman Adam McQuaid and goaltender Keith Kinkaid \u2026 for seven draft picks, including four first- or second-rounders.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 playoffs but lost to the Boston Bruins 4-2 in the second round; St. Louis defeated the Blues to win the Stanley Cup that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pushed all the chips to the middle of the table,\u201d said Jeff Rimer, a longtime NHL broadcaster who called Blue Jackets games for 20 years until his retirement in 2024. \u201cHe was aggressive, and it was the right thing to do, but they couldn\u2019t beat Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rimer also noted a trade by Kekalainen that initially drew criticism but paid dividends on both sides: Defenseman Seth Jones was traded to Chicago during the 2021 NHL draft for defenseman Adam Boqvist, the 12th overall pick in 2021 (which became forward Cole Sillinger), a second-round pick in 2021 and Chicago\u2019s 2022 first-round pick.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen signed Johnny Gaudreau as a free agent in July 2022, a splash move that shocked much of the NHL, as many expected the then-Calgary Flames star to go to an East Coast team.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen and the Blue Jackets also made mistakes \u2013 notably Mike Babcock\u2019s short stay as head coach. Hired in July 2023, Babcock resigned from the position two months later amid an NHL Players Association investigation into his violation of his players\u2019 privacy by asking to see contents of their phones.<\/p>\n

Kekalainen took ownership of the hire \u2013 and the departure.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that went wrong was that maybe they should have been a little bit \u2026 and this is talking with other executives that knew Babcock from previous stops \u2026 that you had to stay on top of him,\u201d said Rimer, who considers Kekalainen a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand what Jarmo wanted to do, and he wanted to think outside the box. They needed a new culture and someone to lead. Babcock was the guy, but things went off the rails early. But I guarantee you, had Babcock remained, the Blue Jackets would have been more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Risk, though, is a part of leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very motivated guy, and he is not afraid to take chances,\u201d Rimer said.<\/p>\n

Familiar refrain, new questions<\/p>\n

A familiar refrain surrounds the Sabres, as it has for much of a postseason drought that is now 14 years long: The pieces are there, but \u2026<\/p>\n

Plenty of questions surround Kekalainen\u2019s hire, too \u2013 questions the Sabres have yet to publicly answer. Neither Adams nor Kekalainen have yet to open up since he joined the organization.<\/p>\n

Will Kekalainen be a sounding board for Adams? Will he have a say in the organizational decision-making? If so, how much? Will this be the move that gets the Sabres back to the playoffs?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an interesting business when you get into rebuilding,\u201d said Davidson, the Blue Jackets\u2019 senior advisor and alternate governor. \u201cI\u2019ve done it a number of times. People plant the trees, and others enjoy the shade. That\u2019s the nature of the business. What I see with Buffalo, they\u2019re trying to expand their front office to get even better, to continue the climb they\u2019re trying to put forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, it\u2019s the nature of the business and of sports. People want things now. If you can be properly patient and understand the process, if you do that, you\u2019re going to have a bigger payday at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anson Carter, a studio analyst for TNT, raises another valid question: Who hired Kekalainen? Was it Adams? Or was it team owner Terry Pegula?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s ownership\u2019s idea, it could make things a little awkward, as you\u2019re the sitting general manager, thinking that the guy that\u2019s taking over for you (someday) could be looking over your shoulder,\u201d said Carter, who played in the NHL from 1994-2007. \u201cOr, if it\u2019s Adams\u2019 idea, then it\u2019s great. It\u2019s another set of eyes to help you make decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Pegula and Sabres COO Pete Guelli formulated the idea of expanding the front office and empowered Adams to interview candidates and hire for the position.<\/p>\n

Having a senior advisor in a front office is hardly new to the NHL, either. Several organizations have them, including the Los Angeles Kings (Marc Bergevin), Pittsburgh Penguins (Doug Wilson) and Florida Panthers (Rick Dudley and Paul Fenton).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job is just too big for one person or a small group,\u201d Carter said. \u201cYou\u2019re looking at a lot of young managers that are now taking over in the big chair, all over the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to have good, experienced people sitting around your hockey roundtable, as you\u2019re making decisions. Jarmo should certainly help, in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, given the Sabres\u2019 recent streak of futility, Kekalainen could be the necessary voice in the room for Adams and the team\u2019s decision-makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevyn is a smart guy,\u201d said Rimer, the longtime Blue Jackets broadcaster. \u201cHe\u2019s perceptive. Was he ready for the general manager\u2019s job when he got it? That\u2019s up for interpretation. The Pegulas saw an ex-hockey player, a Stanley Cup champion who could learn on the job. Now, this is where Jarmo can come in and take a role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rimer also describes Kekalainen\u2019s focus. Rimer just knew that even in their conversations, the wheels were turning in the executive\u2019s mind. He was in two places at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t being disrespectful to me in any way, shape or form,\u201d Rimer said. \u201cThe conversation flowed. But there was something that was on his mind, and he was \u2026 singularly focused. He was on a mission in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raeder saw that when he worked with the Kings in the early 1990s and Kekalainen was with the Senators. The two caught each other\u2019s attention in passing at one point, but said little more than hello to each other. At that moment, even years ago as a front-office employee, Kekalainen was locked in.<\/p>\n

Many, now, are sure that Kekalainen will bring that focus, that energy \u2013 and even that inquisitiveness from years ago, evident during a summer softball tournament in northern Vermont \u2013 to the Sabres.<\/p>\n

Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter<\/p>\n

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