Buffalo Sabres: Pros and Cons of trading for Connor Hellebuyck

Cons

First and foremost, what does the cost look like? Is it worth trading away high-end prospects who the Sabres could need in the near future? What about draft picks?

If Adams trades away an excessive amount of picks and prospects, then he could put his own process that preached “long-term success” in jeopardy, because Hellebuyck is only coming at a premium price tag. It’s just not worth mortgaging the long-term future for immediate success, especially if such a scenario happens, and Hellebuyck ends up being a rental piece.

Further, what about Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s development? Honestly, it would be a mistake to allocate him back to the AHL. I get that he wasn’t great last season, but he went on a tear between December 15th and January 28th, before tailing off. It was also Luukkonen’s first season with extensive experience in the NHL, and if the Buffalo Sabres instead looked to acquire another top four blueliner, then Luukkonen could likely make the leap, negating the need for Hellebuyck.

But if you bring in Hellebuyck and perhaps move Luukkonen in the process, that could hurt the Blue and Gold long-term. Again, this becomes especially apparent if Hellebuyck is a mere rental.

Finally, and I touched on this earlier but it deserves reiteration, what about long-term success? I get that we want to see the Sabres in the playoffs. But if bringing in Hellebuyck for a season even remotely mortgages that long-term plan, then Buffalo could be forced to take that infamous “step back” in 2024-25. At that point, we’d all be asking, “why didn’t Adams just stick to the plan?” In short, we have a lot of what-ifs.