Kekalainen said last year is done, it's Day 1 all over again

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550)- The Buffalo Sabres made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years last season and also took home the Atlantic Division Championship and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. On Wednesday general manager Jarmo Kekalainen spoke to the media ahead of training camp and he said that Thursday on the ice is Day 1 all over again,

"Let's get back to work, right away Day 1, it's a shorter camp than it has been before, so it's important we get right at it understanding that last season was last season, it's in the past, by no means we're satisfied even though a lot of people are patting us on the back saying that we had a great season, pretty good I said to the team, but pretty good is not good enough.

"We also remember very freshly how disappointing it was to lose it (Game 7 vs Montreal) and even if we won that game we're only halfway to where we want to be."

We have all heard the rumors about Connor Hellebuyck almost becoming a Buffalo Sabre. The Sabres GM has also heard all about it, but he didn't really have too much to say about it,

"I have never told anybody in the media about any of the talks with other general managers, so I don't know where it comes from, but there's going to be rumors and you can't let it affect and there's going to be players from our team that are going to be in the rumors and some may be where I've never even mention the name to other teams."

Lindy Ruff said on Wednesday that alternating goalies worked last year and they'll probably start that way this year. Kekalainen said,

"We've said all along that we thought our goaltending was really good last year, we thought we had three really good goalies that all performed career numbers, gave us a lot of wins, but can they be better? Absolutely, everybody on our team can be better."

On Monday Noah Ostlund inked a new long-term contract with the Sabres which averages out to $6.6 million per season. Kekalainen said they wanted cost certainty when it comes to a very good, young player like the 22-year-old Swede,

"We feel he's going to be one of the core pieces and with the salaries in the league lately, we wanted some cost certainty and he was a first-round pick for a reason and his biggest strength is his hockey sense is incredible."

Ostlund was taken 16th overall in 2022 and was part of the Jack Eichel trade with the Vegas Golden Knights.

With a much shorter training camp, Kekalainen and Lindy Ruff already pretty much know who the 23 players are going to be on the team. There's not a lot of time for that surprise player to play so well that he forces his way on the team.

Kekalainen said Jason Zucker had sports hernia surgery and won't be ready for the start of the regular season. Louis Crevier had shoulder surgery, but it's possible he could be cleared to start with the team on Thursday.