Sabres Front Office Named Worst in NHL

Fans of the Buffalo Sabres continue to be extremely unhappy with the state of the team.

Mar 22, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) takes a breather against the Minnesota Wild during the third period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images / Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Fans of the Buffalo Sabres have been waiting quite a long time for a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they have little hope a championship run is around the corner. In a new survey from the Athletic, fans decided that the Sabres have the worst front office in the entire NHL.

Finishing 32nd out of 32 teams, the Sabres scored a D- and dropped all the way to the basement after finishing 26th in last year’s survey.

Led by the ownership of the Pegula Family, the Sabres front office features Kevyn Adams as general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen as a senior advisor, two assistant general managers and Jason Karmanos as associate general manager. Former Stanley Cup champion Eric Staal was also recently hired as an assistant to the general manager.

We have hired Eric Staal as special assistant to the general manager.

Details → https://t.co/DZlESbphRF pic.twitter.com/H4gTFT1Vgo

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) May 7, 2025

The Sabres fan base gave the front office a D grade across the board, finishing dead last in all but one category. The Athletic had fans vote on categories like roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.

The only category the Sabres didn’t finish dead last in, according to their fans, was drafting and developing. The Sabres managed to climb to 29th in that category.

Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Radim Mrtka is selected as the ninth overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Even the public vote gave the Sabres dead last finishes in multiple categories, including vision.

68% of the surveyed fan base believe the Sabres are in a worse spot than they were a year ago and have a much lower overall confidence in the team.

“There is no fan base in hockey more frustrated than Buffalo’s, and rightfully so given the franchise’s abhorrent streak of futility,” Dom Luszczyszyn writes in the survey. “Over a decade without making the playoffs is not something that’s easily forgivable, especially when it doesn’t feel like there’s an end in sight.”

The Sabres haven’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons, and they’ve finished at the bottom of the NHL numerous times during that run. Another trip back to the playoffs doesn’t seem likely in the coming years, either, and the fans aren’t confident in the management group to turn things around.

This survey serves almost as a sequel to a similar survey done by the Atheltic that ranked Terry Pegula as the worst owner in the NHL. Receiving an F grade, Pegula took over the Sabres in 2011, the same year as the team’s last playoff appearance.

Buffalo has one of the most loyal fan bases in the NHL, yet they continue to have no hope in the team, front office or ownership. Things aren’t looking up yet and nothing much seems to be on the horizon in terms of change.

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