Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is an intense competitor. That was obvious from his first meeting with the players after taking over the front office when he essentially declared, you're either going to start working harder or you're gone.
It represented a much-needed tone change from the top of the organization after six years of Kevyn Adams, whose laissez-faire attitude never met the moment, and it undoubtedly helped spark the franchise's best run in two decades.
Kekalainen traces his success back to the late 1990s, when he was tasked with serving as general manager of HIFK, a club in Finland with a rich history playing in the country's capital, Helsinki.
HIFK won a championship in 1998 under the Finnish GM, who'd assembled a roster that included a group of future NHL stars in Olli Jokinen, Brian Rafalski and the notoriously enigmatic Tim Thomas. It was an eye-opening experience for the young hockey executive.
"There was some turbulence early on in the year because of the personalities," Kekalainen told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic on Tuesday. "One thing that taught me was that a hockey team can't be all choirboys. It's a lot of different personalities, and you have to be able to manage them."
Now 59, the former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager insists on taking a hands-on role in making sure the players are receiving the messages being sent from the front office and the coaching staff.
"There's a lot more to a manager's job than just putting the roster together," Kekalainen told Fairburn. "That's something that I take very seriously."
The Sabres, once among the league's mentally weakest teams, have become a reflection of their new GM. They no longer fold at the first sign of adversity, as they showcased again Sunday night by coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to steal a point against the Anaheim Ducks.
Perhaps all this previously struggling core needed was to start hearing the right message, and Kekalainen has been the perfect messenger at the perfect moment.
Buffalo Sabres will face extreme pressure as expectations skyrocket ahead of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Sabres are no longer just a cool story who may sneak into the postseason. There will be no "everything is gravy from here" mentality. A deep playoff run is now expected.
Rightfully so. They've posted a 33-6-3 record over their last 42 games — more than half the NHL regular season — to catapult from last in the Eastern Conference to second place, and they're only a point behind the Carolina Hurricanes in the race for the top seed.
Buffalo may not have as much high-end star power as the Canes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars, but its combination of terrific roster depth and relentless play style is causing serious problems for opponents on a nightly basis.
Kekalainen understood the challenge will only get tougher from here, especially from a physical perspective, which is why he added Sam Carrick (one of the NHL trade deadline's best additions), Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn and Tanner Pearson before the stretch run.
The Sabres didn't make a blockbuster move before the deadline — they attempted to land Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko from the St. Louis Blues, but the Thomas talks fell through and Parayko declined to waive his no-trade clause — but the freshly minted GM still made an impact by ensuring the roster was ready to withstand the rigors of postseason hockey.
Sure, the length of Buffalo's playoff run will be heavily dependent on the play of stars like Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch as well as continuing to receive elite goaltending from the tandem of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon. There's no doubt about that.
But depth matters, too. Every Stanley Cup winner has a long list of unsung heroes by the time the postseason ends. The Sabres now have no shortage of options to fill key those roles.
Kekalainen deserves a lot of credit for changing the entire vibe around the franchise, but his competitive nature won't let him be satisfied until Buffalo is a perennial contender, ideally peaking with the team's first championship.
And it feels like the players are finally buying in to the idea they can make those dreams reality, which simply wasn't the case under the prior regime.