Signing winger Josh Doan to a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension was one of the first orders of business handled by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen after taking over the Buffalo Sabres front office midway through the 2025-26 NHL season.
Doan quickly established himself as a franchise building block after arriving to Western New York last June alongside defenseman Michael Kesselring in exchange for fellow forward JJ Peterka.
Allain Roy, the 24-year-old rising star's agent, admitted during an appearance on The PuckPedia Hockey Show that it's often tough deciding when a younger player should sign a long-term extension, but he noted it made sense for both sides in this case.
"I will call that one a culture move by Jarmo," Roy said. "I really think that he wanted to lock down the right character for his team. When you look at Josh, they got [Zach] Benson, they got some guys who play the right way is kind of what the old-school hockey guys will say. I think for Jarmo is was very important to make that statement when he came in and took over the team."
As for Doan, the Arizona State product made it clear he wanted contractual security before signing the new deal, which runs through the 2032-33 season, in January.
"Josh is very well educated. Dad's a Hall of Famer (Shane Doan)," Roy said. "We talked about every aspect of this deal. Should we wait until the summer? Should we do it now? And, at the end of the day, he wanted to know he was there. He wanted to be a big part of that team, in building a winning team in Buffalo, and what a great start for him this year. And he felt that locking it down now would make a lot more sense than him waiting until the summer, and that's why we pulled the trigger when we did."
Doan posted 52 points (25 goals and 27 assists) across 82 appearances during his first season with the Sabres. His 46 takeaways, which ranked fourth in the NHL, showcased his backchecking prowess.
As it stands, his $6.95 million salary in 2026-27 will be the third highest among Buffalo's forwards behind only Josh Norris ($7.95 million) and Tage Thompson ($7.14 million).
Josh Doan credited Buffalo Sabres' tight-knit culture for this season's success
Few things stood out more during the Sabres' long-awaited breakthrough season than the fact it seemed like the organization finally found the right locker-room mix. The players stood up for each other and genuinely seemed to enjoy each other's company.
Doan echoed that sentiment during his year-ending press conference.
"We had a lot of fun together, and that's part of the reason no one in that room wanted it to end. We enjoy being together and enjoy little mornings like this, getting up and coming to the rink and talking. And it makes the summer quite a bit longer when you're with a group that enjoys being together," he told reporters. "… Getting here in the end of August, early September, I don't know if there was a lot of people that were putting us in contention to be where we were this year. It takes a lot as a group to grow together and put yourself in that position, and that speaks highly of how close-knit a group we had."
There were moments throughout the 14-year playoff drought where things got quite ugly in Buffalo.
Fans turning on the players, and vice versa, and frequent instances where a lack of accountability and an affinity for excuses left the organization in a really tough spot.
Finding a way to leave that losing culture in the rearview mirror was always the most important factor in the Sabres finally getting back on that, and it happened in 2025-26.
Now the question is whether Buffalo will be able to carry those positive vibes into next season and beyond, especially with some roster changes likely on the horizon.
Kekalainen has several internal free agents to deal with, headlined by UFA Alex Tuch and RFA Benson, and he'd probably like to land a bona fide top-six scoring forward via the trade market.
That said, the more roster changes, the tougher it may become to maintain that close-knit feeling that helped the Sabres be so successful. It'll put pressure on current leaders, like Thompson and captain Rasmus Dahlin, as well as future leaders such as Doan and Benson to reestablish those high standards.
Those are the type of intangible elements that can help Buffalo avoid a one-off return to prominence and instead emerge as a long-term Stanley Cup contender.
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