Jarmo Kekäläinen was named general manager of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 15, 2025. He previously served as a senior advisor for the Sabres beginning May 30, 2025. The 2026-27 season marks his 29th season working in an NHL front office. Kekäläinen is the first European-born general manager in Sabres history.

A native of Kuopio, Finland, Kekäläinen spent parts of 12 seasons as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2013 to 2024, becoming the first European-born general manager in NHL history. During his tenure, Columbus reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times, set a franchise record with 50 wins and 108 points in 2016-17, and captured the organization’s first playoff series win with a first-round sweep of Tampa Bay in 2019.

Prior to his time in Columbus, Kekäläinen held executive roles with the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators, serving in positions that included assistant general manager, director of amateur scouting, director of player personnel, and European scout. With St. Louis, he oversaw seven draft classes that produced 32 NHL players, including 12 who went on to play more than 500 NHL games. He also spent three years as general manager of Jokerit in Finland’s top professional league and worked with the Finnish national team program.

Kekäläinen played collegiately at Clarkson University and professionally with the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators in the NHL, as well as in Finland and Sweden, before transitioning into management.

Marc Bergevin was named associate general manager of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 21, 2025. The 2026-27 season marks his 21st season working in an NHL front office.

Bergevin spent parts of 10 seasons as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens from 2012 to 2021. During his tenure, Montreal reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs six times and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He received three Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year nominations and was named a finalist for the award for the 2020-21 season.

Prior to his time in Montreal, Bergevin held multiple roles with the Chicago Blackhawks, including assistant general manager, director of player personnel, scout, and assistant coach. He was part of the Blackhawks organization that captured the Stanley Cup in 2010. Bergevin later spent parts of five seasons as a senior advisor with the Los Angeles Kings before joining the Sabres.

Bergevin played 20 seasons professionally as a defenseman, appearing in 1,191 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Hartford Whalers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Vancouver Canucks.

Josh Flynn was named assistant general manager of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 21, 2025. The 2026-27 season marks his 19th season working in an NHL front office.

Prior to joining Buffalo’s staff, Flynn spent 17 seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he worked alongside Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. He served as director of hockey administration from 2013 to 2018 before being promoted to assistant general manager, a role he held until joining the Sabres.

During his tenure in Columbus, Flynn was responsible for salary cap management, contract negotiations, arbitration preparation, analytics, and strategic planning in support of the organization’s hockey operations.

Flynn earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Toronto and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver.

Jerry Forton enters his third season as the Sabres’ assistant general manager and his 14th season with Buffalo overall in 2026-27. He was promoted to assistant general manager on June 11, 2024.

Prior to his promotion, Forton served as Buffalo’s director of amateur scouting from 2020 to 2024 and served in a player personnel role and earned a gold medal with Team USA at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. He previously spent three seasons in Buffalo as the team’s director of collegiate scouting and two seasons as assistant director of scouting. Preceding that, Forton served as an amateur scout for the Sabres during the 2014-15 season and as an assistant coach during the 2013-14 campaign.

Before joining the Sabres organization, Forton spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Harvard University (2011 to 2013), two seasons as an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell (2009 to 2011), and 14 seasons as an assistant coach at Niagara University (1995 to 2009).

During his tenure at Niagara, Forton helped transform the Purple Eagles from a first-year Division III varsity program in 1996-97 to an NCAA Division I tournament team in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Niagara’s 1999-00 team finished with a 30-8-1record and reached the NCAA semifinals. Niagara won four conference regular-season championships and four tournament titles in Forton’s time there. The Purple Eagles ranked among the nation’s top 20 in six of their 11 Division I seasons.

A 1987 graduate of University of Buffalo, where he played both varsity soccer and hockey from 1983-87, he was inducted into the UB Hall of Fame for both sports in 1997. He also graduated from UB law school in 1989. He served as a player agent for two years shortly thereafter and eventually served as a coach for the school’s Division I soccer program for six seasons.

Mark Jakubowski is in his 22nd year with the Sabres and serves as the club’s assistant general manager.

His responsibilities include salary cap analysis, contract research relating to player negotiations and arbitrations, managing player transfers, team roster administration, and all matters relating to compliance with the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement and other NHL agreements.

Jakubowski also assists with the American Hockey League hockey operations of the team’s minor league affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

John Davidson was named senior advisor of the Buffalo Sabres on July 13, 2026. The 2026-27 season marks his 21st season working in an NHL front office. Davidson spent 18 of his first 20 front-office seasons as president of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. In his role with Buffalo, he provides expertise and guidance throughout the organization’s hockey department.

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Davidson spent parts of 12 seasons in the Blue Jackets’ front office during two separate tenures from 2012 to 2026. Working alongside General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen, he helped oversee the most successful period in franchise history. Columbus earned four Stanley Cup Playoff berths during Davidson’s initial seven-season tenure, set franchise records with 50 wins and 108 points in 2016-17, and captured its first playoff series victory with a first-round sweep of Tampa Bay in 2019. Davidson also served as Columbus’ interim general manager during the 2023-24 season.

Prior to joining Columbus, Davidson served six seasons as president of hockey operations for the Blues. He helped transform a team that recorded 57 points in 2005-06 into one that earned 109 points and won the Central Division in 2011-12. Davidson later spent two seasons as president of the Rangers, who posted a 64-51-11 record during his tenure.

Davidson was selected by St. Louis with the fifth overall pick in the 1973 NHL Draft and played 10 seasons as a goaltender with the Blues and Rangers. He helped New York reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Final prior to the conclusion of his playing career. Davidson subsequently became a longtime television analyst for the Rangers and worked nationally for several networks. He received the Lester Patrick Trophy for his contributions to hockey in the United States in 2004 and the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions in broadcasting in 2009.

Sam Ventura enters his sixth full season with the Sabres after being named the team’s vice president of hockey research and Strategy prior to the start of the 2021 season.

He spent the previous six seasons as a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ front office and captured two Stanley Cups with the team (2016 and 2017). Ventura served as the Penguins’ director of hockey research from 2017 to 2020 prior to being promoted to director of hockey operations and hockey research during the 2020 offseason. He joined the Penguins as a team consultant in 2015.

Ventura attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in computational finance and statistics, a master’s in statistics and a doctorate in statistics and served as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team.