What Chaos: Can the Sabres be saved?
Less than one week out from Christmas and I think we’ve got to concede that this season is just weird as hell officially.
We’ve got a team leading the Atlantic despite a negative goal differential, a general manager being fired in the middle of his team’s season-long win streak, and arguably the three best teams in the league all stuffed into the same division.
If you’re too short on energy and brain cells to wrap your head around how bizarre our reality is right now, join me in just shrugging and gesturing vaguely to the standings.
It’s another installment of the What Chaos! weekly notebook, where we look back on the week in hockey and the podcast, and dump out whatever remaining thoughts we have left.
What Chaos! is national hockey show hosted by Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean on The Nation Network. They take you around the league with new episodes every Monday-Thursday, live at noon ET on YouTube.
Can Jarmo save the Sabres?
The Buffalo Sabres’ decision to move on from Kevyn Adams this week seemed to inject some optimism into the NHL’s saddest and most downtrodden franchise. But are we all lining ourselves up to be morons if we even consider believing in the Sabres again? Again?
You can certainly make a case that the Sabres’ issues run deeper than just the face of the front office. Terry Pegula still owns the team, which is still located in Buffalo — at least one of those things could be considered a problem, depending on who you ask. You can also argue that not everything Adams did was terrible — look no further than this summer’s Peterka trade — and the Sabres weren’t exactly an operational masterpiece when he took over.
However, the sum of Adams’ work in five-plus years never really led to an obvious change in the team’s culture, identity, or volatility. You don’t necessarily have to blame him for that, but it’s probably the biggest reason why it felt like there was an air of inevitability with this thing not working out under him. That and the whole “palm trees and taxes” thing.
But right off the bat, the installment of Jarmo Kekalainen as GM feels very un-Sabres-like (endearing, obviously) in a few different directions — the first being that there’s proof he can do the job at this level. Ending a pretty staggering run, Kekalainen is the first Sabres general manager with previous NHL GM experience since Scotty Bowman left Montreal for Buffalo in 1979.
Kekalainen also isn’t a “family hire.” He had no existing ties to the club before joining on as an advisor in May. In contrast, the club’s previous two general managers (and the current head coach) probably owe at least a portion of their employment to an existing tie to the crest.
Instead, Kekalainen seems like a merit-based hire, and one who should inspire a decent amount of confidence given his body of work in Columbus. Though the Blue Jackets never had much playoff success during his tenure, Jarmo was aggressive in building a foundation of personnel and culture, and the team occasionally made the playoffs. As sad as it may be, that’s good enough to be a slam dunk upgrade for the Sabres.
Jarmo’s legacy with the Blue Jackets isn’t without its holes, though. Where he had a knack for bringing in talent, there was also a history of failing to retain it. That problem already exists in Buffalo.
The Sabres’ core has been stripped and rebuilt over and over again, and there’s still not a ton of confidence that this current group is the one to stick. It feels like we’re nearing a breaking point, so does that get expedited by Jarmo’s hire? The timing and language of the transition this week suggest a widespread aggressiveness in approach.
It’s hard not to feel like Jarmo is being asked to save this team from itself and its reputation, which isn’t an easy ask given the hole. But it seems like a job much more suited for Kekalainen than anyone the Sabres have tapped in recent memory, and if it works out, there’s redemption in it for both sides.
That’s exciting, and exciting is better than sad.
Are the Kraken okay?
Hey, so about Seattle’s respectable start to the season…
Now we’re talking about a team that has not only lost nine of its last 10 games but is also now pulling some absolute BS on the accountability front. After a (very respectable) loss to the Avalanche this week, Seattle’s media relations only allowed one reporter — a team employee — to ask questions to coach Lane Lambert after the game, apparently in an effort to protect him.
Not how this is supposed to work, and not exactly a great reflection on the seriousness of this club. You don’t get to be losers AND cowards.
To their credit, the following day’s apology was timely and appropriate, but for a newer franchise that is desperately trying to carve out an identity in this league, it’s a self-inflicted screwup that has only served to magnify what’s going wrong over there.
This team is an absolute disaster right now and the reasons to believe in them or defend them are dropping real quick.
Minnesota’s surge
Gone are the days of criticizing the Wild for being mild and inconsequential. Not only do they now have Quinn Hughes, but they’re also riding a six-game win streak in which they’ve outscored opponents 28-9.
It feels like we might be watching a good team transition into a great team.
You could claim recency bias or over-infatuation with a shiny new toy, but how many teams can beat a three-man core of Kaprizov, Hughes and Boldy? Those three guys might be the three best players to ever wear a Minnesota Wild sweater and they’re all either in their prime or approaching it. It’s special to watch already.
As they continue to establish themselves as a contender, the question now becomes: Do they have enough of a supporting cast to pose a threat to the Avalanche and Stars at the top of the Central division?
There’s already been plenty of chatter about what the Wild might lack in terms of depth down the middle after trading Marco Rossi, but it seems like they’re comfortable making a bet on Danila Yurov’s growth in an expanded role, and so far the 21-year-old looks really good (five points in his last four games). He’s even helping to bring out a vintage version of Vladimir Tarasenko lately — a real rarity over the past several seasons.
It’s probably only a matter of time before we start hearing Minnesota linked to some potential trade targets, and it’s hard not to imagine what someone like Ryan O’Reilly or Kiefer Sherwood would do for that team as tries to make a run down the stretch. I’d imagine Bill Guerin isn’t done considering he has to maximize this Hughes window, but as of right now they don’t look like they’re lacking much of anything and they’re still far from full strength.
This Week In What Chaos!
- Credit to Shawn; he was a lot gentler about the Bills beating the Patriots than I would have been had the result been flipped.
- DJ’s frustration with the Skinner/Jarry trade seemed to be waning at least a little bit as this week went on — that is, until Jarry tweaked something Thursday night…in Boston…as DJ watched in person. I’m sure we’ll be hearing about that on Monday.
- Massive shoutout to Emily Kaplan for co-hosting in my absence on Tuesday. Personally, I find it a little selfish to be a great reporter AND a great hang, but that’s just me and my mailbox full of people saying she should replace me.
- Speaking of great hang, highly recommend checking out our interview with guitarist Cory Wong this week if you haven’t yet. If you know him, you probably already love him. If you don’t, he’s a guitar god and a massive Minnesota Wild fan with charisma for days. Lots of fun hockey & music talk from our chat, and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back later this year as the Wild gear up for a run.
- I’m really starting to worry about the Penguins, man. Seven straight losses and there are some absolutely horrific catastrophes in the mix — including becoming the first team ever to lose back-to-back games while taking 3+goal leads into the third period. After a brief but blissful reprieve, Crosby On Another Team Photoshops/per 60 is once again spiking BIG-TIME.
- Thank you to everyone who reached out to call DJ & Shawn idiots for not knowing Old Gregg. Your work is important and I love you.
Three Stars of the Week
1. Bruins Lizard – I still may not fully understand it and it’s probably the most inexplicable trend born from an NHL game ops department since Saxophone Squirtle took over Winnipeg a few years ago, but god do I love it. This non-serious Bruins roster has no business being as fun and competitive as it’s been under Marco Sturm this season, so why not just embrace the unserious and go full brainrot?
All hail the Bruins Lizard 🦎 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻 Presented by @SIASport
Also, it has been brought to my attention that other teams have done something similar in their arena, but that’s not going to stop me from pretending like it exclusively belongs to the Bruins and is my entire personality for a little bit.
2. Exploring the surface of post-apocalyptic wastelands – In between holiday festivities and hockey, my free time is being almost exclusively consumed by Arc Raiders (an elite video game) & “Fallout” Season 2 (an elite video game adaptation). Feels like maybe I’m becoming partial to the idea of living underground and only occasionally testing my survival skills on the surface.
3. Cigarettes – HUGE week for Big Tobacco rediscovering a mainstream foothold in hockey. Whether he likes it or not, Leon Draisaitl — the NHL’s latest 1000-Point Club member — basically became the Modern Day Marlboro Man this week. A guy goes viral for one drunk cig at his wedding, and all of a sudden, we’ve got t-shirts, cakes, and tributes shaped to look like we’re celebrating 1000 heaters smoked and not 1000 points. Honestly, great behavior from the Oilers.
Is it Cake?
Its from Art of the Cake in Edmonton too!They flew it out
cigs are so back
Weekend Slate Notes
The Oilers and Avalanche visiting the Wild this weekend is a real treat. Minnesota is on a league-best heater both in results and vibes, so the reigning conference champs and the best team this season each getting a crack at them is must-see stuff.