Improving Defense Needs to be the Buffalo Sabres Top Priority

The Buffalo Sabres have to stop the sinking, and it starts on defence. 

While eight teams continue their quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup, the Buffalo Sabres continue their quest toward an uncertain offseason.

This weekends NHL Draft Lottery revealed the Sabres will pick 8th this June at the United Center in Chicago. According to multiple pre-draft odds and analysis, Buffalo had a slim, 8% chance to win the first overall pick.

However, picking 8th again is disappointing, given the Sabres finished with fewer points than last season and also watched Dallas, New Jersey, and Philadelphia leap past them in the lottery.

Most intriguing of all is the future direction Terry Pegula will steer the franchise. As the owner, he has the final call when it comes to hiring the next coach and general manager. However, building continuity will be key.

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With new management comes new philosophies, systems, and visions. Whether Bill Zito, Paul Fenton, Tom Fitzgerald, Mike Futa, or another candidate ends up getting the gig, agreement on the Sabres long-term vision is crucial.

Regardless of who is appointed the Sabres next coach and GM, we do know one thing: there are many holes to fill. Especially on defense. What we do not know is how exactly the Sabres will fill this need.

While we can and will speculate for months about how this will happen, Buffalo has three main options: The Draft, Trades, and Free Agency.

With the 8th pick in this years draft, the Sabres may just land one of the top defensive prospects. According to various mock-drafts, defensive prospects Tim Liljegren (Sweden) and Cale Makar (AJHL) could be available when Buffalo selects.

Potential Top-3 pick, Miro Heiskanen, is rated the draft’s best defenseman by many. However, it is nearly impossible he will be available at 8.

Even though other teams may not have defense as their #1 need, passing up a potential 1st-line defenseman would be a mistake. Young, talented defenseman are low in supply and high in demand.

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Buffalo may have the option to draft a better overall forward at 8, but they must draft to fill a current need, even if it means passing up on a higher-skilled prospect.

If all else fails and the Sabres are stuck without a top defense prospect to draft, they have the option of trading their 1st-round pick for a defenseman.

Thinking about trading a first-rounder in any sport makes many cringe, but in the right circumstance, it may be the most profitable move. A move the Sabres may just make.

It is not uncommon for 1st-round picks to spend a few years developing before seeing the ice at the NHL level. Just ask Alex Nylander, the Sabres 2016 1st-rounder, who spent all but one game down in Rochester.

Yes, NHL teams can always find hidden gems in any round. Just don’t place a high wager on the probability. It is exactly why the Sabres can trade their first rounder.

Now lets say Buffalo trades their 1st-rounder. Given past draft history and player-valued analysis, a 1st-rounder at 8 will not yield a top-line defenseman, which the Sabres desperately need.

Buffalo will need to trade another asset in order to pry their coveted defenseman from another GM. Sam Reinhart or Evander Kane may be the only logical trade-bait Buffalo has.

Reinhart is young, talented, and still peaking. Kane is fast, physical, and scoring goals. All of which other teams need.

Yes, there would be uproar if Sam or Evander were traded, but the NHL is a business. This is what the market holds for a top-two defenseman. Again, it is not always pretty, but sometimes you have to trade a good player to fill a long-term need.

After next year, the Sabres may not be able to pay Kane what he feels he is worth, especially with Sam and Jack reaching for new deals.

Getting his salary off Buffalo’s books while acquiring a needed asset is definitely a win. However, if Kane is in the next GM’s long-term plans, Reinhart will still have many suitors.

Take a team like the Anaheim Ducks, for example. Perry and Getzlaf are aging, so GM Bob Murray may just be looking for his next young, talented forward. All of which Buffalo can offer.

While they are shorter on forward depth, there is no doubt a surplus of talented defenseman. Lindholm and Fowler are the Holy Grail of top, left-handed defenseman. The mere thought of pairing one of them with Ristolainen must make Buffalo drool.

Still, this would be a rare trade. Even though the Sabres are an Eastern Conference team and only face the Ducks twice a year, Anaheim would be giving up a franchise defenseman.

Even more unlikely would be trading for a defenseman within the Eastern Conference, let alone Buffalo’s division.

However, the NHL is a business. It seems as though no one truly knows what GM are thinking from time-to-time. Anything can happen given the right time and circumstances. Even franchise-altering moves.

Buffalo’s next GM and coach will have the duty of addressing the team’s current needs. Scenario after scenario will be analyzed as the draft and off-season approaches.

With defensive holes to fill, and an incredibly weak defensive free-agent class, the Sabres must dig-deep, maximize their assets, and establish a long-term identity.

If Buffalo does not, we will be praying year-after-year that those ping-pong lottery balls fall in our favor.