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Buffalo Sabres Likely To Move Torrey Mitchell

By Melissa Kania |

The Buffalo Sabres’ management team has a lot of work to do over the next few days. The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching — Monday grows ever closer — and general manager Tim Murray still has a lot on his hands that could be moved, including center Torrey Mitchell.

Mitchell, 30, is one of a few players on the Buffalo Sabres that is set to become an unrestricted free agent this July. As GMTM has said previously, he intends to try to move all his impending UFAs for pieces prior to free agency — so will Mitchell be the next one to go?

All things considered, Mitchell’s name isn’t one I’ve heard a lot lately in the rumor mill. Maybe it’s a case of everyone gossiping over Chris Stewart and where he’ll end up (Boston, perhaps?) or maybe I’m just missing it, but I’ve seen a lot more trade talks surrounding other players.

Of course, that doesn’t mean something couldn’t be in the works for Mitchell and the Buffalo Sabres, or that a deal couldn’t spring up unexpectedly. Just look at the Jhonas Enroth trade and how quickly that developed for an indication that anything could happen at any time. Heck, as I’m writing this, Murray may be trading half the team away. Deals can also fall apart just as quickly.

Right now, Mitchell is in the last year of a three-year deal he signed with the Wild back in 2012. He’s getting paid $2.5 million this season and has a cap hit of $1.9 million, the same as Marcus Foligno.

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Mitchell has 12 points on the season – five goals and seven assists. That includes a pair of goals in Thursday’s win against the Vancouver Canucks, a game in which Mitchell was a season-best plus-4. It was also his first multi-goal game of his career with the Buffalo Sabres, and his first since March 23, 2011.

This season, Mitchell’s been statistically better on the road than at home (8 points/21 games vs. 4 pts/29 games).

In total with the Sabres, Mitchell has 13 points, an overall minus-5 and an average 15:27 ice time in 59 games.

Mitchell was originally a 2004 draft pick of the San Jose Sharks. In all, he had 502 NHL games under his belt, with 115 points in that stretch between San Jose, Minnesota and Buffalo. He’s had two 20-point seasons in his career, with the last coming in 2010-11. He’s not the most offensive producer you’ll ever meet.

The good news: the Buffalo Sabres essentially picked up Mitchell for nothing. Look back at March 2014, when the Sabres traded Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick to the Wild in exchange for Mitchell and two draft picks. Both of those players later signed with the Sabres on July 1.

But now it’s time to look ahead. If GMTM isn’t going to sign Mitchell – and it doesn’t sound like it – it’s extremely likely that he’s getting traded somewhere in the next few days.

Has he played his last game as a member of the Buffalo Sabres? Or will he still be around for Saturday’s game against the Panthers, to be traded after that before the deadline? And the biggest question…. where does he go?

How about maybe the Rangers (NY Post) or the Habs (Sportsnet) as possible destinations for Mitchell? What would you want to see in return for him?

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