3 takeaways | Kekalainen talks front-office philosophies during Sabres Live appearance

Jarmo Kekalainen joined Brian Duff and Martin Biron on Sabres Live to discuss his new role as senior advisor, his philosophies on team building, and more on Friday.

The Sabres hired Kekalainen on May 30 as the latest in a series of moves to bolster the organization, following the additions of Stanley Cup winner Eric Staal as special assistant to the general manager and renowned Team USA strength coach Brian Galivan as director of performance.

Kekalainen, 58, previously spent parts of 12 seasons as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets and also held high-level roles with Ottawa (as director of player personnel) and St. Louis (as director of amateur scouting and assistant general manager).

Watch the full interview below and read on for three takeaways from the conversation.

1. A hands-on role

Kekalainen spent the last 15 months away from the day-to-day grind of the NHL following his departure from Columbus. He referred to the time away as one of the most educational periods of his life, dating back to his days as a management major at Clarkson University.

“I think it was the best decision I made, just to take some time off and reflect and learn from my experiences, my mistakes,” he said.

"... I’ve been in the hockey business since 1995 non-stop and never had this opportunity to take some time off and learn and just be better. I’m a big believer that the day you think you have nothing else to learn or nothing more to learn, that’s the day you’ve got to retire. I’m definitely not there yet, so it was a great year and three months.”

Kekalainen said he interviewed for jobs around the NHL prior to joining the Sabres. He listed conversations with general manager Kevyn Adams and owner Terry Pegula and a belief in the Sabres’ roster as reasons he accepted the opportunity – along with the hands-on nature of the role in the Buffalo front office.

“The role is important for me, because I didn’t want to be looked at as somebody who’s retiring or doesn’t want to do work,” he said. “I want to be one-hundred-percent in, 24/7, doing everything I can to help Kevyn and the Buffalo Sabres. That was a big part of why I wanted to join.”

2. Aggressive, but calculated

Kekalainen’s tenure in Columbus included five trips to the playoffs, including a three-year stretch from 2016-17 to 2018-19 in which the club averaged 101 points.

During that period, Kekalainen supplemented a homegrown roster headlined by Cam Atkinson, Alex Wennberg, and Zach Werenski with a series of high-profile trade acquisitions including Seth Jones, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, and Artemi Panarin.

Kekalainen was asked Friday how aggressiveness factors into his identity.

“I think I’m aggressive when it’s the time and place to be aggressive, but also I’d say I’m pretty analytical and I have the poise to also look at the situation and take a step back and analyze it rather than reacting into something just because you feel like something’s got to be done,” he said.

“But if the situation, the opportunity’s right, I can be aggressive. It all depends on where the team’s at in its development and growth, and then when the window opens, I think you need to be aggressive because the window to win with a team is never open forever. It’s that certain period of time, your core players’ prime, and that’s when you need to be aggressive to make sure you surround them with the right mix to win.”

3. Scouting intangibles

The 2018-19 version of the Blue Jackets pulled off one of the great upsets in NHL history with their first-round sweep of the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, who were fresh off tying the single-season wins record.

That Blue Jackets team was defined by a cohesive, hardworking identity – which speaks to Kekalainen’s philosophy on evaluating players.

“Anybody can see the skill, anybody can see who can shoot the puck and skate,” he said. “The hardest part of evaluation is seeing … the competitiveness, the drive, the desire, the willingness to win and do everything to win. Those are the important things you need to see in a player, recognize in a player, and then go get that player.”

Those attributes translate into a playoff-style game.

“Physicality is still a big part, intimidation is still a big part of the NHL," he said. "You watch the playoffs, it’s a man’s game. You’ve got to have a group of guys who are willing to put their body on the line whether it’s blocking shots or going into a corner first and getting to a loose puck and retrieve it. Or, if there’s a little bit of a battle in front of the net, you always push back and you never back down. That’s a big part of physicality. It’s not necessarily on being the aggressor or the intimidator. It’s never giving up and always pushing back and being there for your teammate as well.”