BUFFALO — The Buffalo Sabres fired general manager Kevyn Adams on December 15, 2025, and replaced him with Jarmo Kekalainen while retaining head coach Lindy Ruff. The move came as the franchise sought to end a 14-year playoff drought after a disappointing start to the 2025-26 NHL season.

As of December 8, 2025, the Sabres held an 11-14-4 record and ranked 30th in the NHL in points percentage at .448. Since December 15, the Sabres compiled a 31-7-4 record, the best in the NHL over that span.

Since the managerial change, the Sabres allowed the fewest goals against per game in the NHL, averaging 2.60, and ranked second in goals scored per game at 3.76, behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. From December 9 through their next 45 games, the Sabres averaged 3.73 goals per game, the second-highest mark in the league behind the Lightning at 4.00.

Team captain Rasmus Dahlin, who was selected first overall by the Sabres in the 2018 NHL draft, said the players recognized the need for internal accountability. "We had to have a few meetings. Eventually it just clicked. We realized that it's us in here that's been the problem," Dahlin said.

Dahlin pointed to defensive commitment as a factor in the team's improved record. "We're playing solid defense. I think that's where our game is coming from, with backchecking, blocking shots, all that. That's how you win games," he said.

Forward Jason Zucker described the improvement as the product of collective effort rather than any single factor. "I don't think there's a single thing we can put our finger on and say, 'That was it, that was what did it.' I think it's a combination of guys stepping up at different times, and goaltenders playing well, and learning how to close out close games, and doing the right things. When you can commit to those things game in, game out, that's when it clicks," Zucker said.

Zucker acknowledged that the emphasis on execution existed before Adams's departure but said results had been lacking. "I think it was an emphasis prior to Adams' firing that we had to do the right things more often. But for whatever reason, it wasn't clicking all the way with us. And now it's becoming more of an emphasis within the room again, and we are executing that at the right times and closing out games," he said.

Ruff, who was retained as head coach through the transition, attributed part of the difference to roster composition. "This is a little bit different right now. Some of the depth that we have, and we have a lot of it, is more veteran guys. That's probably the biggest difference for me," Ruff said.