Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Buffalo Sabres director of player development Adam Mair has added two former players in the organization to his staff. The team announced on Tuesday the hiring of Tim Kennedy and Nathan Paetsch as new development coaches.
Kennedy comes aboard after leading the Academy of Hockey at Harborcenter. The Buffalo native was a sixth round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2005 NHL Draft and played 162 NHL games, scoring 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points.
Kennedy started his Sabres career in the 2008-09 season when he played his first NHL game. He played 79 games with Buffalo, netting 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points. He also played six playoff games with the Sabres, scoring one goal and two assists for three points.
In 2010, Kennedy won his arbitration hearing with the Sabres, but general manager Darcy Regier elected to walk away from it. From there, Kennedy saw time with the Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks and Phoenix Coyotes.
In the 2016-17 season, Kennedy spent a year with the Rochester Americans, scoring four goals and 25 assist for 29 points in 47 games.
His final pro season came in the 2017-18 season when he played 60 games with the Binghamton Devils.
The 35-year-old Kennedy entered the NHL after three years playing at Michigan State University.
The 38-year-old Paetsch just retired in 2020 after three seasons with the Amerks.
All but 10 of Paetsch’s 167 NHL games were with the Sabres. With Buffalo, he had seven goals and 35 assists for 42 points. His one playoff game was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 when the Sabres had most of their defense injured. Out of the lineup were Henrik Tallinder, Jay McKee, Teppo Numminen and Dmitri Kalinin.
Paetsch was a second round pick of the Caps in 2001, but Washington declined to sign him so he went back into the draft and Buffalo took him in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Draft.
Kennedy and Paetsch join Dan Girardi, skating coach Mike Ansell and goaltending development coach Seamus Kotyk on the staff. Girardi declined to stay on Don Granato’s coaching staff because it would be too much time away from his family.
"The mission is just to provide constant support to our prospects," Mair told Sabres.com. "It’s to build trusting and strong relationships so that our prospects can become the best people and the best players that they're capable of being and then at the end of the day, working tirelessly to help them become future Buffalo Sabres."
Last year, Mair was an assistant coach on Seth Appert's staff with the Amerks.
