The Buffalo Sabres have relieved Jason Botterill of his duties as general manager and moved Kevyn Adams, senior vice-president of business administration, into the position, the team announced Tuesday.
“This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the general manager of the Sabres. This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change,” team owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, said in a joint press release.
“We wish Jason and his family all the best moving forward, and we thank him for his time and energy devoted to our organization and to the city of Buffalo.”
Late last month, Kim Pegula told The Associated Press that Botterill would remain in his role despite the league’s longest active playoff drought (nine years) and a 13th-place finish in the East, which means the Sabres won’t even qualify for the NHL’s expanded post-season format featuring the top-12 teams in each conference
The Pegula’s said Adams and head coach Ralph Krueger already have a “close working relationship” and they’re excited to see what they can do together as they revamp the team’s hockey ops.
“We have the benefit of this long 2020 pause to take time to reorganize and re-energize our hockey department. We recognize the importance of this off-season with so many player decisions to be made,” said the release.
“We have had the pleasure of watching Kevyn build his post-playing career over the past nine years under multiple roles throughout our organizations. We are confident Kevyn and Ralph will work together to build a consistent contender. As always, we are here to provide the necessary resources.
Our fans deserve better, and we are all tasked with the burden to improve and provide them a consistent, contending team for years to come.”
