Pegula, Guelli’s front office changes spark Sabres’ long-awaited end to playoff drought

The Sabres have “performed poorly on and off the ice” during the 14 seasons since owner Terry Pegula acquired the franchise, but the team has made changes in both areas over the past 24 months that “awakened the sleeping giant” and led to the end of a record 14-year playoff drought, according to Lance Lysowski of the BUFFALO NEWS. The past 14 years have seen “bad decisions in hockey operations” and the team “cycling through” seven coaches and four GMs. And as the team struggled, “so did the business.” Lysowski: “There seemed to be no end in sight for the cycle of mediocrity and dysfunction.” Pegula and COO & President of Business Operations Pete Guelli shared their insight on the changes that led to a “turnaround no one expected a few months ago.” Pegula: “To me it has been 5% here and 5% there.” Pegula and Guelli recommended “changes in April 2025,” including getting “more experienced people” around then-GM Kevyn Adams. In “too many areas,” the Sabres “were not run like an NHL team.” Guelli and Pegula hired Jarmo Kekalainen as a senior advisor and former NHLer Eric Staal as special assistant to Adams, but after another slow start to this season, Adam was “fired” on Dec. 15 and replaced with Kekalainen. But that was “not the only change that factored into the Sabres’ remarkable turnaround.” Important players got healthy and “more leadership emerged in their dressing room.” All the while, Kekalainen “brought credibility and experience to the Sabres’ hockey operations department” (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/8).