For a lot of Sabres fans, Jarmo Kekalainen’s comments about Buffalo’s goaltending sounded like classic front-office smoke. The belief was simple: he was playing the game, keeping leverage, waiting to strike on Connor Hellebuyck.
That did not happen.
Buffalo had a real chance to push harder after talks with Winnipeg came up short before the 2026 NHL Draft in late June, and it chose not to. That decision stood even with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen struggling out of the gate. Then Friday brought the final twist in the Hellebuyck saga: the three-time Vezina Trophy winner was moved to the New Jersey Devils.
To Wpg: Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command and Nick Bjugstad plus two draft picks.
To NJ: Connor Hellebuyck.
- Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 23, 2026
Now the Sabres are left staring at the same old problem, only louder: who is the long-term answer in net?
For a while, Buffalo seemed set up for a Luukkonen-Devon Levi future. That path is gone now. Luukkonen has yet to find the consistency needed to lock down the No. 1 job, and Levi was sent to the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason.
The remaining options are thin. Alex Lyon is 33 and headed for unrestricted free agency next summer. Colten Ellis is still waiting for a longer runway, with the coaching staff showing little urgency to give him one despite Luukkonen’s shaky start.
The system doesn’t offer much relief either. Topias Leinonen and Scott Ratzlaff were both sent down to the ECHL even after Levi’s departure opened room with the Rochester Americans. Samuel Meloche and Yevgeni Prokhorov have shown some promise, but both are still years away from any Buffalo discussion.
So the uncomfortable reality is this: nobody can say with any confidence who will be minding the Sabres’ crease in two or three years. An outside fix looks more necessary every week.
Hellebuyck would have erased a lot of that uncertainty. He’s one of the generation’s most accomplished goaltenders, under contract through 2030-31, and even with last season’s dip on a bad Jets team, his resume points straight to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Still, Kekalainen never seemed all that eager to close the deal with Winnipeg, even though the Jets’ early demands were said to be steep. Buffalo could have matched the final package if it had truly wanted to.
Instead, the goalie questions remain, and they now sit right in the middle of the Sabres’ present and future.
The Hellebuyck miss also says plenty about Kekalainen’s first months in Buffalo. When he replaced Kevyn Adams last December, there was plenty of talk about the aggressive edge he showed during his Columbus run from 2013-24. He built a reputation as someone willing to swing big when the moment called for it.
That version of Kekalainen hasn’t really shown up in Western New York.
What Buffalo has gotten instead is a cautious, deliberate approach. He has locked up young pieces such as Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Noah Ostlund and Peyton Krebs to long-term extensions, while also clearing up the cap picture.
There was a cost to that restraint. Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram were moved on because they were not going to sign extensions with the Blue and Gold, and both departures have already left a mark on the early part of the season. Buffalo did not make any major additions to replace them.
Olen Zellweger has filled the Byram spot well, which reflects credit on Kekalainen, but the bigger bet has been on internal growth up front. So far, that hasn’t fully come through.
That’s why the Hellebuyck decision lands so hard. Buffalo’s 4-4-2 start and minus-nine goal differential only sharpen the focus on the front office. This roster is not built to chase a Stanley Cup right now, and in a loaded Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division, even a second straight playoff berth is far from a sure thing.
The organization does have promising young talent, and the long view still looks encouraging. But the current setup is not enough to go toe-to-toe with the league’s best.
At some point, Kekalainen is going to have to take a major swing for a star, maybe even two. A top-line center should be the priority, and a goalie upgrade would help as well.
The longer he waits, the more heat builds around the moves he’ll need to get right. Contention windows do not stay open forever.
In Other News...
Alex Tuch Just Twisted The Knife On A Sensitive Sabres Issue
Alex Tuch may be in Washington now, but he still had plenty to say about Buffalos uneasy start to the 2026-27 season. The former Sabres winger sounded confident the group will figure things out, even as the early results have left the club hovering around .500 and searching for traction in a crowded Atlantic Division race.
Tuch also drifted into one of those off-ice details that only lands if you know the room, mentioning the Sabres poker games and the way Peyton Krebs handles the bookkeeping. It was a small aside, but an oddly revealing one for a team still trying to steady itself after Tuchs departure, with the kind of lingering familiarity that makes every comment from an ex-teammate feel just a little more pointed. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Keep Creating The Same Problem That Could Sink This Season
The Sabres keep giving themselves the same steep climb, and it showed again in a recent loss to the Flyers. Buffalo has repeatedly fallen behind by two or more goals early this season, forcing the kind of recovery effort that can energize a team for a while but still leaves little margin for error over 60 minutes.
There has been some resilience in the way the Sabres have pushed back after those rough starts, but the bigger issue is obvious enough for Lindy Ruff and his staff: this group needs more offense earlier and a better opening stretch if it wants to stop digging holes. Until that changes, every slow start will keep turning into a test of survival, and that is no way to spend a season. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Prospect Vasily Zelenov Is Creating A Tougher Timeline Debate
Vasily Zelenov has wasted little time making his name part of the conversation around Buffalo's prospect pipeline. The Sabres forward prospect, now a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, has opened the 2026-27 season with strong offensive production while continuing to sharpen the part of his game that could make him more than just a playmaker. Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings has already seen enough to believe Zelenovs college stay may not last long.
For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious, but the timing is not. Zelenov is still working to improve his goal-scoring touch to go with the creativity that has stood out early, and the Sabres have to weigh how close he really is to NHL-ready before making a move. His timeline is becoming a bigger talking point as the season goes on, and spring could bring an important decision for a player whose development is moving faster than the usual college track. [Read more 🡒]