BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres' announced Tuesday they have fired Jason Botterill as General Manager.
The announcement was made on social media.
Senior Vice President of Business Administration Kevyn Adams has been named General Manager. Adams is a former NHL hockey player who has played for several NHL teams.
The move is surprising following news that the Sabres' ownership confirmed to the Associated Press last month that they would be backing his return for a fourth season.
Owners Kim and Terry Pegula released this statement:
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.
"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.
"New General Manager Kevyn Adams and Head Coach Ralph Krueger already have a close working relationship and we are excited to see what they can do together as we reconfigure our hockey operations. 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 offseason with so many player decisions to be made.
"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."
The Sabres' have missed the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons.
In a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Terry Pegula confirmed there was no search for a new general manager. The Sabres simply promoted Adams from within the organization.
In addition, Pegula told Two On Your Side Sports Director Adam Benigni that they have no plans on hiring a President of Hockey Operations to oversee the first time GM and his staff.
While Terry and Kim Pegula did not say why they fired Jason Botterill, they did mention a lack of communication in the organization.
Head Coach Ralph Krueger was also on the afternoon call and confirmed he will stay on as Sabres Head Coach.
At this point, it is not clear if any Assistant General Managers will be hired to work with Adams.
Later on Tuesday, the Sabres announced a series of moves impacting the amateur scouting department in Buffalo and the Rochester Americans farm team in the American Hockey League.