A portion of the Buffalo Sabres fanbase thought Jarmo Kekalainen was bluffing when he praised the team's current goaltenders amid the Connor Hellebuyck trade rumors. They believed the longtime NHL executive was merely making sure to maintain maximum leverage.
That wasn't the case. The Sabres had ample opportunity to improve or adjust their offer for Hellebuyck after initial discussions with the Winnipeg Jets fell short ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft in late June. They opted against it despite the early-season struggles of incumbent starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
In the end, the long-running drama ended Friday when the three-time Vezina Trophy winner was dealt to the New Jersey Devils.
To Wpg: Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command and Nick Bjugstad plus two draft picks.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 23, 2026
To NJ: Connor Hellebuyck.
It leaves a crucial question: Who's the future of the Buffalo crease?
For years, it felt like the Sabres were heading toward a UPL and Devon Levi tandem between the pipes. Luukkonen has never been able to showcase the consistency necessary to become a full-time No. 1 netminder, however, and Levi was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason.
Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis are the other goalies on the roster. Lyon is 33 and scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, while the coaching staff has been hesitant to give Ellis a more sustained look despite UPL's poor play early on.
It's unlikely the prospect pool will yield a solution either, at least in the near future.
Topias Leinonen and Scott Ratzlaff were both demoted to the ECHL despite Levi's departure creating space with the AHL's Rochester Americans. Samuel Meloche and Yevgeni Prokhorov have showcased some promise, but they're both years away from entering the Buffalo conversation.
In short, it's impossible to say who'll be the Sabres' starting goalie in two or three years. An outside solution appears more necessary with each passing week.
Hellebuyck, one of the most decorated goaltenders of his generation who's signed through 2030-31, would have eliminated that uncertainty. Yes, his numbers dipped last season on a bad Jets club, but his track record guarantees future enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Yet, Kekalainen never appeared overly eager to get a deal done with Winnipeg, which did have some sky-high demands at the beginning of the ordeal. The final price the Jets received was something Buffalo could've matched if it wanted to.
Instead, the goaltending questions will remain front and center for the Sabres, not only in the short term, but potentially for several years to come.
Jarmo Kekalainen still hasn't put his stamp on the Sabres roster
When Buffalo fired former general manager Kevyn Adams last December and promoted Kekalainen to the role, a lot was said about his aggressive tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2013-24). He never seemed to fear making a big move when the situation called for it.
That type of gunslinger mentality hasn't shown itself during his time in Western New York.
Kekalainen has taken a conservative, measured approach. He's re-signed some young players to long-term contract extensions (Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Noah Ostlund and Peyton Krebs) while cleaning up the club's salary-cap outlook.
Part of that was walking away from Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, who weren't going to sign extensions with the Blue and Gold. Nevertheless, they were impact players and their absence is being felt by the team early in the new campaign.
The Sabres didn't make any high-profile additions to replace them, either. Olen Zellweger has done a nice job sliding into the Byram role, which is a credit to Kekalainen, but the franchise was betting heavily on internal improvement up front. It hasn't fully materialized so far.
So, the Hellebuyck trade increases the intensity of the spotlight on the Buffalo front office, especially given the club's sluggish start (4-4-2 with a minus-nine goal differential).
The Sabres, as they're currently constructed, aren't good enough to win a Stanley Cup and, given the immense strength of the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division, they're far from a lock to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
That doesn't mean the organization doesn't have a lot of promising young players (it does) and Buffalo's long-term prospects are still strong. But the status quo isn't good enough to compete with the NHL's elite.
At some point, Kekalainen will need to take a bold swing for a superstar or two. A bona fide first-line center should be the top priority and a goalie upgrade would certainly help, too.
The longer he waits, the more pressure he'll face to get those critical moves right because contention windows don't stay open forever.
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