Sabres announce Jarmo Kekalainen Hired as Senior Advisor

[inkman]

14 minutes ago, JustOutsideChicago said:

Knowing that Jarmo has the Zito connection, I wonder if he has relationships with anyone else in that front office. Wouldn’t mind prying someone from the Panthers. 

I’d be mildly surprised if anyone of significance is removed from the Panthers roster.   Certainly no one that wants to come to Buffalo.  I mean no one actually wants to play hockey for the Sabres not even the guys we have despite what Adams and the players say. 

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, inkman said:

I’d be mildly surprised if anyone of significance is removed from the Panthers roster.   Certainly no one that wants to come to Buffalo.  I mean no one actually wants to play hockey for the Sabres not even the guys we have despite what Adams and the players say. 

Who would want to play for adams or Ruff?

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

If it was KA .... he must feel he has infinite job security. Can you imagine going to your boss after 5 years of futility (at best) on the job and telling him/her 'I need help'? 

My understanding is that it was Pegula who “encouraged “ him to add some experienced people to the staff to help him. And it was up to KA to choose who he wanted. I can’t say that for sure. I’m conjecturing here. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter much to me who was behind the change compared to the fact that it was done.

There is nothing novel about having “senior advisors” working as consultants and as a sounding board. Many teams have this type of added structure. Florida has this type of senior consultants.

I consider the addition of Jarmo to be a positive move.

 

 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Who would want to play for adams or Ruff?

Zucker.

[Mr. Allen]

16 minutes ago, inkman said:

I’d be mildly surprised if anyone of significance is removed from the Panthers roster.   Certainly no one that wants to come to Buffalo.  I mean no one actually wants to play hockey for the Sabres not even the guys we have despite what Adams and the players say. 

Are they going to need to make moves to keep everyone under the cap?  And if we trade for them then they won’t have a choice (barring a nmc). 

[inkman]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Who would want to play for adams or Ruff?

From the Stanley Cup winning Panthers? Any and all of them.  From the rest of the league?  Anyone who knows what to do when your teammate is lying unconscious on the ice.  Essentially, almost all North American hockey players not playing for the Sabres.  That’s who I want. Anyone but the guys we have that isn’t a giant *****.  

[JustOneParade]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

My understanding is that it was Pegula who “encouraged “ him to add some experienced people to the staff to help him. And it was up to KA to choose who he wanted. I can’t say that for sure. I’m conjecturing here. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter much to me who was behind the change compared to the fact that it was done.

There is nothing novel about having “senior advisors” working as consultants and as a sounding board. Many teams have this type of added structure. Florida has this type of senior consultants.

I consider the addition of Jarmo to be a positive move.

 

 

I agree John. It’s just quite disheartening that it’s taken 5 wasted years for someone (TP) to figure that out. TP must really love him some KA.

[Turbo44]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

Zucker.

Yep that’s cuz Buffalo was the only team willing to pay him this late in his career + he was sick of Moving every year to a new team. In saying that, he did play well and we could use more zucker’s

[JohnC]

24 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

Yep that’s cuz Buffalo was the only team willing to pay him this late in his career + he was sick of Moving every year to a new team. In saying that, he did play well and we could use more zucker’s

We can use another younger Zucker. He was both productive and tough. 

[JohnC]

31 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

I agree John. It’s just quite disheartening that it’s taken 5 wasted years for someone (TP) to figure that out. TP must really love him some KA.

Stubbornness in certain circumstances is an admirable trait. And it some other circumstances it is a debilitating trait. 

[JohnC]

16 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Who would want to play for adams or Ruff?

I mentioned Zucker in a previous post. It's going to be interesting to see if McCleod signs a contract here. I think he will. 

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I mentioned Zucker in a previous post. It's going to be interesting to see if McCleod signs a contract here. I think he will. 

Hope so, he was one of our best players last year. Actually plays defense. 

[LGR4GM]

I will note McLeod is probably only a 15g, 25a player so we need to pay him accordingly. He's not going to shoot 20% steadily. 

[French Collection]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Hope so, he was one of our best players last year. Actually plays defense. 

Kills penalties, wins faceoffs and skates very well. Good middle six player.

[JustOutsideChicago]

20 hours ago, inkman said:

I’d be mildly surprised if anyone of significance is removed from the Panthers roster.   Certainly no one that wants to come to Buffalo.  I mean no one actually wants to play hockey for the Sabres not even the guys we have despite what Adams and the players say. 

I’m thinking more about front office types.

[irregularly irregular]

Anyone know what the odds are in Vegas for Jarmo being gone within the next 2 weeks? 

[Mr. Allen]

15 minutes ago, irregularly irregular said:

Anyone know what the odds are in Vegas for Jarmo being gone within the next 2 weeks? 

Where would he go?  And why?

[inkman]

1 hour ago, irregularly irregular said:

Anyone know what the odds are in Vegas for Jarmo being gone within the next 2 weeks? 

This seems a little out of left field.  What makes you think it’s a real possibility? 

[PromoTheRobot]

18 minutes ago, inkman said:

This seems a little out of left field.  What makes you think it’s a real possibility? 

The desire for chaos in the absence of any actual news.

1 hour ago, irregularly irregular said:

Anyone know what the odds are in Vegas for Jarmo being gone within the next 2 weeks? 

That's a little too obscure for Vegas books. But I'll take that action. What are you betting? Even money that Jarmo Kekalainen is still with the Sabres on July 6? 💸💸💸💸💸

Edited 3 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[PerreaultForever]

On 6/18/2025 at 5:49 PM, JohnC said:

We can use another younger Zucker. He was both productive and tough. 

Yes. His name is JJ Peterka. 

[JohnC]

Just now, PerreaultForever said:

Yes. His name is JJ Peterka. 

I want to keep JJP and have often stated so. But from a stylistic standpoint they are very different. Zucker plays a more rugged and physical game. Zucker is also a much more responsible two-way player than JJP. He is also arguably our best player at the net. JJP is a faster  north/south skater with a better shot. From an offensive standpoint JJP is more potent.

These players have different skill sets and both are needed.

[PromoTheRobot]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I want to keep JJP and have often stated so. But from a stylistic standpoint they are very different. Zucker plays a more rugged and physical game. Zucker is also a much more responsible two-way player than JJP. He is also arguably our best player at the net. JJP is a faster  north/south skater with a better shot. From an offensive standpoint JJP is more potent.

These players have different skill sets and both are needed.

I'm sure the Sabres are "listening" to offers for Peterka, but only so far as to see if anyone wants to get stupid with a package. But I think it's 99% JJ is a Sabre for years to come. It won't help things is he becomes a distraction. It's in his interest to play his best and keep his value high.