On Monday, the Buffalo Sabres finally made a change at general manager by replacing Kevyn Adams with Jarmo Kekalainen. It was a move that felt long overdue but wasn't overly surprising based on some reporting last week that the team was having internal discussions about making a change.
The timing is certainly interesting as the Sabres are currently in the midst of their first three-game win streak of the season. However, Adams has struggled over his entire tenure, and a win streak wasn't enough to change course for the team.
Now looking ahead, Kekalainen has a lot of work to do in short order to try and save the season to hopefully end the playoff drought. If he can't do that, then the Sabres are going to need to start a rebuild that probably will need to begin at the NHL Trade Deadline.
When looking ahead to the upcoming days and weeks, these are three things that should be at the top of Jarmo Kekalainen's list as the new general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.
Should Lindy Ruff remain as the Buffalo Sabres head coach?
Even though the Sabres are tied for last in the Eastern Conference, there is still time to get back into the playoff discussion. They have 32 points through 32 games and are only six points back of the final Wild Card spot.
One of the big questions Kekalainen needs to answer is whether or not Lindy Ruff is the coach who can help him lead the team on the ice. He is currently in his second season with the team after returning to Buffalo last season.
The Sabres finished with 79 points last season, and if they keep the pace they are on now, to slightly improve on that total to 82. That won't be good enough for the playoffs, but the way they finished the road trip should give Kekalainen some optimism.
It is a move that I don't believe the Sabres will make, and Kekalainen probably already decided on since he has been around the team since the summer when he joined as a Senior Advisor.
Begin discussions with Alex Tuch's representation
Without question, the big free agent question for the Buffalo Sabres is Alex Tuch, who is currently in the final year of his contract. He didn't sign a new deal leading up to the season, and the last reporting was that those discussions were on hold.
Certainly, the reason those discussions were on hold was that Tuch saw how the team was performing earlier in the season and questioned if the Sabres could ever turn it around. However, Kekalainen can now step in and begin discussing his vision for the team and what he believes they need to do to get back to the playoffs.
Those discussions need to start now because if the Sabres continue to struggle and Tuch makes it clear he won't be re-signing, it will be time to explore the trade market to see what might be out there in a return.
Decide what the plan is for the goalie position
One of the biggest roster challenges this season has been the fact that the Buffalo Sabres have been carrying three goalies on their NHL roster. They have to get that down to two players and how they move forward with that will lie in Kekalainen's opinion of Devon Levi.
If the new Sabres general manager believes he can be their goalie of the future, no later than next season, then they could look to trade Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He is being paid like a starting goalie and should draw interest from around the league. It is hard to imagine that Levi could become the starter as long as Luukkonen is on the roster.
However, if the Sabres don't believe Levi is able to get to that level, then they should look to trade Levi and probably Colten Ellis. This will leave the team with Luukkonen and Alex Lyon as their goalies through next season at the very least.