Forget making a trade; now that Jarmo Kekalainen has been hired as the Buffalo Sabres GM, his first order of business is to hire a coach who can get the team back in the playoffs.
It was the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu who once said that “If you do not change direction, you might end up where you are heading.”
That quote seems to contradict what the past 14 years have looked like for the Buffalo Sabres.
Since the team last made the playoffs in 2011, the Sabres have changed — a lot.
They've fired seven coaches, four GMs and sent countless big-name stars out the door, including Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Linus Ullmark and many more. And yet, despite all the change, nothing has really changed for a Sabres team that has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference standings this season and is looking at a 15th consecutive year of missing the playoffs.
On Monday, more changes came, with senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen replacing Kevyn Adams as the GM after five years at the helm.
Now, Kekalainen has to decide what changes he’ll make.
Should he rebuild a roster that has already been under construction for more than a decade? Should he re-sign power winger Alex Tuch, who becomes a UFA at the end of this season? Should he fire coach Lindy Ruff, whose contract expires at the end of this season?
The last question is perhaps the easiest to answer.
Nothing against Ruff, who was the last Sabres coach to lead the team into the playoffs way back in 2011, but if Kekalainen hasn't already called Peter DeBoer to gauge his interest in coming to Buffalo, then he better do it fast. There might not be another coach out there who is more qualified — and with the way the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing these days, DeBoer might not be around for long.
Fired from Dallas after a third-round loss in last year's playoffs, DeBoer is everything the Sabres have been trying to be: he's a winner, a coach who has qualified for the playoffs in nine of the past 11 seasons, who has twice reached the Stanley Cup final with New Jersey in 2012 and San Jose in 2016.
In his first year in New Jersey, DeBoer took over a Devils team that had missed the playoffs by 12 points the previous season and led them to the final. In his first year in San Jose, he took an underachieving Sharks team to their first — and only — Stanley Cup final berth. In each of the past six times that his teams made the playoffs, they reached the conference final.
Buffalo Sabres Fire GM Kevyn Adams: 'We Are Not Where We Need To Be'
Jarmo Kekalainen replaces Kevyn Adams as Buffalo Sabres GM, owner Terry Pegula announced Monday.
Could DeBoer, who has a history of coaching contenders (San Jose, Vegas, Dallas) and pretenders (Florida, New Jersey) do the same with Buffalo? Well, let’s pump the brakes a little bit.
After all, he’s not a miracle worker. In his first head coaching job, he missed the playoffs in all three years with the Panthers. But given the list of Buffalo's former coaches, which includes first-timers such as Ron Rolston, Phil Housley and Don Granato, he certainly comes with more experience than the Sabres have had in the past.
And that's what the Sabres need. They don't need another first-timer or some wild-card pick out of Europe. They don't need to overthink this. They just need someone who can take the team where it hasn't been since 2011 — and we're not talking about the Stanley Cup.
Therein lies the one weak spot in DeBoer's resume.
He has failed to win the big game. It's why he was fired in Dallas and Vegas and San Jose. But if it meant reaching the playoffs year after year, it's a failure the Sabres would gladly accept.
Three Potential NHL Coaching Destinations For Peter DeBoer
As expected, the <a href="http://thn.com/dallas">Dallas Stars</a> dismissed coach Peter DeBoer Friday morning, ending DeBoer’s time with the Stars after three seasons. DeBoer burned his bridge with star goalie Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference final, making it more likely that Dallas would part ways with the veteran bench boss.
The only question is whether DeBoer, who is on Team Canada's Olympic staff as an assistant coach, would accept a job in Buffalo or whether he is holding out for a team that has a more realistic chance of winning the Cup. The longer the season goes, the more jobs will likely open up, whether it's in Toronto or Edmonton or Los Angeles.
That's where Kekalainen comes in. He has to be aggressive. And his track record suggests he will be.
As the GM of the Blue Jackets, Kekalainen brought in John Tortorella to come in and coach a team that was struggling to find consistency and make the playoffs on a regular basis. Kekalainen also has a history of going big-game hunting, having brought in Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Johnny Gaudreau while in Columbus.
So maybe he can make a convincing pitch to DeBoer, who might find that there's a lot to like about the Sabres.
Despite their record of futility, Buffalo has a No. 1 defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin, a No. 1 center in Tage Thompson and some promising young players in Josh Doan, Zach Benson and Owen Power, who are all under the age of 24. Their goaltending has been a bit of a mess, which DeBoer might not like, given his history of overreacting to poor performances by his goalies. But in a lot of ways, you can argue that the Sabres have underachieved. All they have been missing is a coach to bring out the best in them.
For DeBoer, it could be a challenge.
Who wouldn’t want to say that they were the coach who turned things around and finally got the Sabres into the playoffs? Who knows, maybe DeBeoer can be the guy who finally gets the Sabres their elusive Stanley Cup.
However, if you’re a fan of the team, you'd probably settle for a wild-card berth at this point.
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