Los Angeles Kings executive abandons the team midseason to join the Buffalo Sabres

There has already been a major change in leadership for the Buffalo Sabres this week, as team owner Terry Pegula announced the firing of maligned general manager Kevyn Adams, who had been on the job since 2021 but never once made the playoffs.

He then immediately named Jarmo Kekalainen as the new general manager, a role that he had previously held with the Columbus Blue Jackets for many years.

Now, Kekalainen appears to have made his first major hiring since being named Sabres general manager. Per a report from NHL analyst David Pagnotta, the Sabres are hiring Marc Bergevin from his current role with the Los Angeles Kings and will be named Buffalo's associate general manager.

Bergevin had been hired by the Kings as a senior advisor to the current general manager, Ken Holland. Bergevin has also been the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, and now appears to be on his way to the divisional foe Sabres.

Just days after being named the general manager of the Sabres, Kekalainen is already making his mark on the team by firing Jason Karmanos, who had been serving as associate GM of the Sabres as well as the GM of the American Hockey League affiliate Rochester Americans.

The Sabres have the longest postseason drought in the NHL at 14 years and counting, and it's the second longest postseason drought in North American professional sports behind only the NFL's New York Jets, who have now officially missed for a 15th straight year.