Inside look at Buffalo Sabres

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Buffalo Sabres.

The Buffalo Sabres are hoping additions to the front office and roster will be enough to end an NHL-record 14-season Stanley Cup Playoff drought.

In the end, two of the most significant newcomers to the Sabres won’t score a goal or take a shift this season; instead, Eric Staal and Jarmo Kekalainen will be looking to bring stability to the organization and help general manager Kevyn Adams ice a team that can bring postseason hockey back to Buffalo for the first time since 2011.

“As I looked for ways to enhance our existing staff, I wanted to add somebody to our group that has a fresh perspective and the direct experience of winning at all levels of hockey,” Adams said of Staal.

Any help is welcomed, especially with the pedigree Staal and Kekalainen bring to the table.

Staal, 40, was brought in as an assistant to the GM on May 7 and will assist in all aspects of the Sabres’ hockey department, including scouting and direct involvement with players and prospects. He and Adams were teammates with the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, part of an 18-season NHL career in which Staal had 1,063 points (455 goals, 608 assists) in 1,365 games with the Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers.

He also won a gold medal with Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

“Throughout my career, I was fortunate to be on so many successful teams, and I hope I can lean on some of those experiences to help the organization moving forward,” Staal said.

Kekalainen hopes to do the same in his role as senior adviser and will have a hand in all parts of hockey operations after being hired on May 30.

The 59-year-old was the first European GM of an NHL team when he was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, a run that lasted 11 years. During his tenure, the Blue Jackets qualified for the playoffs in five of his first seven full seasons and brought in big-name players like Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Johnny Gaudreau.

Having previously worked for the Ottawa Senators (European scout and director of player personnel) and the St. Louis Blues (director of amateur scouting and assistant GM), Kekalainen has helped oversee draft classes that featured Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Marian Hossa, Alex Pietrangelo, Erik Johnson, David Perron, T.J. Oshie, Lars Eller, Zach Werenski and Adam Fantilli.

“[Kevin and I] are aligned in our philosophies and share the same core beliefs on how to build a winning team,” Kekalainen said.

With veteran coach Lindy Ruff returning for a second season, the experienced brain trust will be looking to find a way to have the Sabres improve on their 36-39-7 record last season, when they finished seventh in Atlantic Division. To do that, Buffalo’s mandate is to cut down on goals against; only the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks allowed more than the 289 the Sabres gave up (including shootout-deciding goals).

Buffalo’s biggest move in that area was acquiring defenseman Michael Kesselring and sandpaper forward Josh Doan from the Utah Mammoth in a trade for forward JJ Peterka on June 26. Trading away a 23-year-old who had 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 77 games is significant, but Adams feels the return will prove to be worth the price.

“I want to have skilled players, but I want to have harder players, players that play on both sides of the puck, that compete,” Adams said. “You know you’re moving a top-six forward out, but you are improving your team in other ways.”

In Kesselring, the Sabres are adding a 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hand shot who had an NHL career-high 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in 82 games last season. The 25-year-old immediately projects as the partner for 22-year-old Owen Power, who should be freed up to top the NHL career-high 40 points (seven goals, 33 assists) he had in 79 games in 2024-25.

“It’s funny,” Kesselring said. “Honestly, they’re one of my favorite teams to watch, just because of Rasmus (Dahlin) and Owen.”

Kesselring joins a Sabres defenseman group that also features Power, Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Mattias Samuelsson and Conor Timmins, who was acquired with fellow defenseman Isaac Belliveau in a trade with the Penguins on June 28 for a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft (defenseman Peyton Kettles) and defenseman Connor Clifton.

In goal, Buffalo brought in Alex Lyon, who signed a two-year contract on July 1, to provide competition for No. 1 goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and 23-year-old Devon Levi.

This offseason, the Sabres have added experience on and off the ice. Whether it’s enough to end their postseason drought remains to be seen.