Buffalo Sabres: Top 3 players Kevyn Adams must move in 2023

With the offseason underway, it’s time to talk about what kind of trades the Buffalo Sabres need to consider for 2023-24. Here are the top three.

The Buffalo Sabres could be making a few more roster moves this offseason to put the finishing touches on what should be a playoff team. As you know, they are still lacking in the defensive rotation, and general manager Kevyn Adams may also want to improve the situation at goaltender.

One way to accomplish both would be to trade away players who don’t fit in the team’s long-term plans. Here are three names Adams can trade and either acquire another draft pick, or better yet, to use in a package to land a blueliner or goaltender.

3 players Buffalo Sabres must move in 2023 offseason

1 – Victor Olofsson

Victor Olofsson is the obvious choice here. And there are quite a few routes Adams can go. He can package him, a prospect, and a draft pick into a trade for a top four defenseman or a capable goaltender, or if Adams is only willing (or able) to create an additional roster spot, he can just flip Olofsson for a draft pick.

Thanks to his abilities to score goals, Adams would ideally like to get something more than a pick out of the winger. But in a worst-case scenario, getting rid of Olofsson for a mid-to-late-round pick will at least gets him off the Sabres hands and it will also free up cap space to sign a goaltender a blueliner, or both.

2 – Jacob Bryson

I’ve been making roster projection after roster projection here, and Jacob Bryson is clearly the odd man out. No, Henri Jokiharju, Riley Stillman, and Ilya Lyubushkin don’t look like long-term answers, but I would take any of the above on the third pairing this season before I’d insert Bryson back into the lineup. Even Stillman, who looked completely overwhelmed at times on the ice.

If the Buffalo Sabres held onto Bryson this season, he’d do nothing more than to take up a roster spot. Sure, they could always place him on waivers and try to send him to Rochester, but even a player like Bryson probably wouldn’t pass through. Why not try to move and get something for him?

3 – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

While I wouldn’t mind seeing the Sabres go with a Devon Levi-Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tandem in 2023-24, expect Kevyn Adams to inquire about every potential goaltender on the trade market and also those hitting free agency this year if he feels they would make a good fit. This means there is a chance that the Sabres pick up someone who can serve as a 1A, or if Levi is ready, a 1B, which would leave Luukkonen and Eric Comrie as the third and fourth goaltenders.

Comrie may be a top AHL candidate, but a young goaltender like Luukkonen could be worth something to goaltender-needy teams. If Adams signs a goaltender, then he needs to trade Luukkonen and get the most he can for the 24-year-old. If Adams seeks to trade for an older, more established goaltender to a team who may rebuild or take a step back, then Luukkonen would make a good trading piece.

Source: Sabres mailbag: How much will it cost to sign Owen Power to a long-term contract? by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com