When the Buffalo Sabres made the change at general manager from Kevyn Adams to Jarmo Kekalainen, one of the stark differences was their experience. Prior to Adams being named general manager, he had no experience in that role.
As for Kekalainen, he has served as general manager for over a decade with the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the latest role. On Saturday, Kekalainen began making changes to the front office and reportedly brought in another person with a wealth of experience in Marc Bergevin.
Marc Bergevin to be hired by the Buffalo Sabres as associate GM to replace Jason Karmanos
Earlier in the day, the Buffalo Sabres announced that Jason Karmanos would be let go from his position as associate GM of the Sabres and GM of the Rochester Americans. He had been with the team since April 2020 and was in those roles for five seasons.
If those roles were split, Karmanos has a case to be made that he was very successful as general manager of the Amerks. During his time, they made the playoffs four of the seasons he was in the role.
However, it is clear that Kekalainen wants to bring in his people, and Marc Bergevin is the first, and probably not the last, move he makes as he reshapes the front office.
Marc Bergevin has plenty of experience building playoff-caliber teams
Similar to Kekalainen, Bergevin has over a decade of experience as general manager during his time with the Montreal Canadiens and they made the playoffs six times. In those six trips, they would get as far as the Stanley Cup Final one time.
He would fired as general manager during the 2021-22 but would quickly join the Los Angeles Kings front office as a senior advisor. Bergevin worked closely with former general manager Rob Blake but Blake elected to not return this summer and he was replaced by Ken Holland.
Similar to his time with the Canadiens, Bergevin helped build out a roster in Los Angeles that would make the playoffs every season he was with the team.
Over the years, the Buffalo Sabres have not really leaned into experience in the front office with hires like Kevyn Adams, Jason Botterill, and Tim Murray. It makes sense for them to lean into this experience and bring in people who have helped their teams get to the playoffs and know what is needed.
Who might Jarmo Kekalainen be looking to bring to the Buffalo Sabres next?
The Buffalo Sabres don't seem to be stopping with just Marc Bergevin as Kekalainen reached out to his former team about assistant general manager Josh Flynn. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Sabres requested permission to speak to Flynn, and the Blue Jackets granted that permission.
Josh Flynn has worked extensively with Kekalainen, as he was hired as Director of Hockey Administration ahead of the first season Kekalainen was general manager. He has remained with the Blue Jackets ever since and was promoted to Assistant General Manager during the 2019-20 season.
While this doesn't mean that there won't be changes elsewhere throughout the organization, like maybe coaches, the focus right now for the new general manager seems to be getting the staff he wants in the front office.