Newly appointed general manager Kevyn Adams has a lot of work ahead of him over the next few months. The thing that may be at the top of his priority list is to find new people to fill some of the vacancies from Tuesday’s purge of the hockey department.

With the constant uncertainty of the organization and bad reputation the Pegulas are building around the league, this task may not be easy. The fact remains that Adams will need some strong people with experience around him to assist in navigating his way through the job duties of an NHL general manager.

Some names that you’ve probably seen out there early on are two people with Sabres connections in Rick Dudley and Scott Luce. Dudley still resides in Western New York and is currently the Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Carolina Hurricanes. Scott is the son of former Sabre Don Luce and is currently the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Vegas Golden Knights.

While those two may be legitimate options to bring into the organization, I’m going to go a little deeper into putting together a list of people that Adams should be considering to bring onto his staff. For the record, I have no idea if any of these folks would have an interest, but they would be strong additions to the organization.

Judd Brackett

We’ll kick things off with two current free agents that are on the market. Up first is former Vancouver Canucks Director of Amateur Scouting, Judd Brackett. He was with the Canucks for 12 years but decided to not renew his contract with the club because of differences in opinion with current general manager Jim Benning.

Brackett could step right into a Director of Amateur Scouting role with the Sabres or even an elevated role of Assistant General Manager to get him to come to Buffalo. He can be responsible for running the draft and help Adams get up to speed with the class this year.

The Massachusetts native has a strong draft pedigree that not only includes some solid selections in the first round, but some promising finds in the later rounds as well. Brackett will officially become a free agent when his contract expires on June 30.

Mike Futa

The other free agent is former Los Angeles Kings assistant general manager, Mike Futa. It was announced last month that his contract would not be renewed in Los Angeles. He would bring a lot of experience after 13 years in the Kings front office. Sabres’ ownership should be familiar with Futa as he was one of the people interviewed for their general manager vacancy when Jason Botterill was hired.

Futa is another one where his expertise is on the amateur scouting side. The Kings have one of the best prospect pools in the league and he gets credit for putting that group together. He can come in and run the Sabres draft this year with ease to take some pressure off of Adams.

Josh Flynn

When people talk about poaching someone from the Columbus Blue Jackets front office you usually hear the name, Bill Zito. I don’t think Zito is realistic for the Sabres, therefore, I’m going to mention another interesting idea from that organization in Josh Flynn.

Flynn was promoted to assistant general manager last year after serving as the Director of Hockey Administration for five years with the Blue Jackets. The 37-year-old is responsible for salary cap management, contract negotiations, salary arbitration, statistical research, and strategic planning, according to the Blue Jackets website.

He caught my attention during the Columbus Hockey Analytics Conference back in February when he spoke about how that organization incorporates hockey analytics into their decision making. Flynn comes off as sharp and could be a fresh voice in the Sabres front office. He may not leave Columbus for a lateral move, so they may need to offer him the title of associate general manager as a promotion to entice him to make the move.

Darren Yorke

I mentioned the idea of bringing in Dudley above, but there should be some interest in another member of the Hurricanes front office, Darren Yorke. He’s been in Carolina for 11 years and his main responsibility as Director of Player Personnel is the amateur scouting side. He’s put the work in for a long time with the Hurricanes and deserves the opportunity to take the next step in an organization.

Yorke would have been someone I considered for an idea as a replacement for Botterill at general manager. However, the Sabres could attempt to lure him into a job as the #2 man in the organization behind Adams.

The most attractive thing for me when it comes to Yorke is his experience with video scouting. It appears as though the Sabres plan to go back to video scouting with their new directive of putting together a leaner hockey department. Well, Yorke was a video scout with the Hurricanes for eight years. He would be a strong piece in getting that side of the scouting staff organized and using the proper tactics.

Meghan Chayka

The last two options are ideas that are outside of the normal NHL hockey candidates. Meghan Chayka is someone who has seen her name thrown into the hat for front office vacancies throughout the league. She’s the co-founder of Stathletes and sister of Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka.

Meghan is an excellent hockey mind and is one of the leading voices in the analytics space. The Sabres would have some experience working with her as it’s my understanding they do some contract work with her company Stathletes, along with Sportlogiq.

I’m not sure if she would have much interest in joining the organization, but it would be a good hire for them to find a job for her in the organization. Even if it’s not Director of Hockey Analytics, as that role is occupied by Jason Nightingale.

Miroslav Satan

To warp this list, the last person is on here for his connection to Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger in Miroslav Satan. The former goal-scoring Sabres winger was the general manager of Team Europe for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. If you forgot, that’s the last hockey team Krueger coached before returning to the NHL as the Sabres coach last year.

Satan had some nice things to say about Kreuger when he was hired from their work together in the past that you can see here.

He spent a few years cutting his teeth in hockey in Europe as the general manager of the Slovakian national team. He was the general manager for their 2018 Olympic team and IIHF clubs.

With Kruger having a bigger voice in hockey decisions, he could suggest the Sabres bring in someone he’s worked with in the past to boost the hockey department.