Dec 14, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26) looks to pass during the third period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images

Sabres New GM Jarmo Kekäläinen Must Make This Move

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Jacob Punturi | Last updated Dec 19, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Buffalo Sabres made the overdue call to fire general manager Kevyn Adams. Over five years in the position, the organization continued their playoff drought. Despite having franchise building blocks in place, the Sabres have made very little progress.

Which is why the new man in charge of the Sabres, Jarmo Kekäläinen, has a huge task at hand. Formerly the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Kekäläinen is well-respected in the hockey world and known for taking a bold approach during his time in Ohio. In his new role, he wants to focus on bringing more character and hard-working qualities to the talented core in Buffalo.

There's tons of different options, but there's one move he absolutely must make to kickstart his tenure as the GM. He has to sign power forward Alex Tuch to a contract extension that keeps him in town for the long-term.

Character and Talent

Kekäläinen laid his agenda out during his first time speaking with the media. He wants to keep the talent in place, but build the core with those hard-working values.

"There's been games this year where we looked like it was going to be easy, and then we lost because we got outworked. That's unacceptable," he said in his introductory press conference. "That's going to be something that we're going to focus on each and every day, because the talent, the skill alone is not going to get you wins."

He'll need to bring that bold and brash approach while re-shaping and rounding out the Buffalo roster, and signing Tuch is the first step.

Why Tuch?

Alex Tuch is character and talent personified. He's reached 30 goals in two of the past three seasons, showing off how deep his offensive arsenal is.

But just like the Sabres' general manager is looking for, Tuch provides more than just offensive skills. He's incredibly hard working and is a player that the Sabres can use in multiple situations. He's averaged over 18 minutes of ice time over the past four years in Buffalo.

Moving forward, he's a huge piece of getting this team back into the postseason. It doesn't end with him, but he's the first domino that needs to fall.

Kekäläinen has tons of work to do in Buffalo. The goaltending is a mess and their defense needs help in addition to rounding out their scoring depth. But that all needs to happen after they finalize a contract extension with their top power forward.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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