Buffalo Sabres Rumor — Buy Or Sell: P.K. Subban
Could Subban be moved?
A bit of an NHL bombshell dropped on Friday morning when TVA’s Louis Jean reported that the Montreal Canadiens may be gauging the trade market for defenseman P.K. Subban.
If true, this would be incredible – and the Buffalo Sabres would be silly to not at least try to pick up the defenseman.
Here’s the thing: right now, the Montreal Canadiens are struggling, but Subban has been their best guy.
He is THE Canadiens’ defenseman. That’s why, after all, they signed him to an eight-year deal back in 2014.
But here’s another thing: Subban isn’t untradeable, at least not yet.
The details of his contract include a no-trade clause, but the kicker is that it doesn’t kick in until the 2016-17 season. Because Subban would’ve been an RFA through that season, there can’t be a no-trade clause in his contract until that point.
Which means, technically, he could be moved, for the right price.
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The TVA reporter cited a team executive who said that Subban’s name has come up on the trade market.
Undoubtedly, this would be a huge move for the Canadiens as well as whichever team received Subban. If that were to be the Buffalo Sabres, what would they have to give up?
At this point, who knows. Who knows what the Habs would ask for, or what would even be enough for them to consider trading Subban?
But if there’s one thing we know, it’s that Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray isn’t afraid to take a risk.
Subban’s lengthy, heavy contract is quite a big one, but considering how good he is, does that balance things out? And while the Buffalo Sabres, and many others, obviously hate playing against the guy because he’s so good, wouldn’t they just love to have him in the ranks?
The point here is this to keep in mind: we don’t know if any trade is actually going to happen. Just because a name comes up in talks, it doesn’t mean anything’s going to necessarily go through. Trades can fall through. The Habs may not even really be looking to trade Subban; it may be more of a “well, let’s just see what happens, and if something comes up that’s too good to pass up, we’ll do it” sort of deal.
Considering how happy Subban seems in Montreal, and how long he’s signed there for, what happens next could be huge.
As a Buffalo Sabres fan, what would you give up to get Subban?
What if you had to give up Sam Reinhart and Ryan O’Reilly? What if the Buffalo Sabres had to give up Zach Bogosian, or Rasmus Ristolainen, as part of the trade package? What if Jack Eichel had to be part of the deal?
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Okay, I think that’s where most Buffalo Sabres fans would say STOP RIGHT THERE. But hey, you never know what the Habs could expect in return for Subban — but it’s certainly worth a look from the Buffalo Sabres.