Where do Sabres, Kekalainen go from here?

The Buffalo Sabres are starting a new chapter, as owner Terry Pegula made the call to fire Kevyn Adams and promote Jarmo Kekalainen to the role of general manager.

The move was somewhat telegraphed when Pegula hired Kekalainen as a senior adviser over the summer, but Adams’ job could have been saved if the team showed real strides toward contention.

With a 14-14-4 start behind them and last place in the Atlantic Division theirs again, it’s safe to say that did not happen. The former Blue Jackets GM will now get to work on an ending the NHL’s longest playoff drought, one that dates all the way back to 2011.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed where Kekalainen could begin in his quest to reverse the fortunes of a downtrodden Buffalo franchise.

Tyler Yaremchuk: As we move along to what’s next here with the Buffalo Sabres… list three things that Jarmo Kekalainen must do to at least start righting the ship in Buffalo. I’ll let you go first with your three here.

Carter Hutton: My first right off the bat is a coach… We’re so far into this, and this is the first GM that they’ve brought in that has some experience in a long time. I think that is important for Terry Pegula as an owner to give up the reins… I think we’re at the point now in the NHL where we don’t need to regurgitate coaches all the time… I look at what the Capitals did going to get Spencer Carbery, I think that’s important.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I went a little more granular, and I love an opportunity to play armchair GM… Number one, I’d sign Alex Tuch… To me, you want to talk about culture and building things the right way in Buffalo? You have money to spend. You have a guy in Alex Tuch who is from the area, who wants to be a Sabre. Get it done.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…