Buffalo Sabres: 13th Overall Scenarios for the 2023 Draft

Scenario 2: Trade the pick

If neither Reinbacher or Pellikka are available at 13th overall, I’d like to see the Sabres trade the pick. This pick will have some good value to it. Not top 5 or top 10 value, but still a good chance for a good player.

We have some options with what we could do. We could trade up, trade down, or trade for a player. I don’t think trading for a better pick makes much sense. 1st and 2nd overall are likely off limits so outside of that I don’t think it’s worth it to give up assets for a better pick. Though I wouldn’t mind trading the 13th overall for more picks, prospects, or roster players.

Trading pick for picks:

• St. Louis acquires: 2023 1st (13th overall)
• Buffalo acquires: 2023 1st (25th overall), 2023 1st (30th overall), 2024 5th round pick

Before you sharpen those pitchforks and come at me, it was just an idea. I think a player at 13th overall will be a lot more valuable than a player at 25 and 30. It’s just an example. Acquiring more draft capital could be a good thing to add to our outstanding prospects pool. We could draft a Forward and Defenseman with each pick, go for two Defensemen, or even two Forwards. Then we’d get a 5th rounder next year to sweeten the deal a bit.

Maybe adding more assets would benefit us greater in the long run. I remember Adams and the crew mentioning that they were going to take Kulich at #16 but instead went with Ostlund.

They were expecting him to be gone by #28, but were surprised when he was available. Trading for a later pick could result in something similar to this. I’m sure there will be a few hidden gems still available later in the first round.

Trading pick for player

We also have the option of trading the 13th overall for a roster player of some sort. There will be defensemen like Radko Gudas, John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Damon Severson, and some other potential candidates that will be available in Free Agency. We have the cap space for it but a lot of them might be looking for multi-year deals. If we went the Free Agency route, I’d like to go for Severson or Gudas.

Potential trade targets for this position could be Connor Murphy, Cam Fowler, Neal Pionk, or Rasmus Andersson. I think we could get more for each player with the 13th overall involved, but it’s the start of something.

It’s possible to acquire a roster player, later pick, and maybe even a prospect for the 13th overall. There are teams like the Florida Panthers who do not have a 1st round pick in this draft that we can use to our advantage. Though Florida is doing good right now in the playoffs so I’m sure they’ll make minimal changes to their roster.

There are several teams who are right up against the cap as well, who will need to get rid of a few contracts in order to resign players. Maybe we could talk to our good friends in Vegas and pry Shea Theodore from them with their 1st rounder for the 13th overall.

There are many options to pursue in this scenario with the pick. I feel all options would benefit us, as long as Adams doesn’t trade the 13th overall for someone like Rasmus Ristolainen straight up. Adams won’t make the same mistakes that past GMs did. What would you like to see the Sabres do with the 13th overall pick in this draft?