Could it be? Oh, that’s what the rumor mill’s saying. Are the Sabres really the team most likely to land the great Elias Pettersson in what, at this point, would be an unprecedented trade? Hey, in pro sports, strange things happen all the time. So, while logic states the Sabres would be sellers at the trade deadline, they might just end up making the next blockbuster deal.
How many of us saw Mikko Rantanen going to Carolina? You’d think the Avalanche and Hurricanes would be pure buyers, not buying and selling at the same time. And at this point, there are very few Sabres I wouldn’t trade for Pettersson - Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The rest is fair game.
But that’s not the point I want to make here. Instead, let’s talk about three Sabres players who’d benefit more than anyone else if the Blue and Gold acquired Pettersson for who I’ll assume will at least include Dylan Cozens and either Bowen Byram or Owen Power.
JJ Peterka
JJ Peterka has a solid 11 goals, but he hasn’t completed plays as consistently, boasting just a 10.9 shooting percentage. That said, his playmaking has been even better, with 24 assists in 47 games, giving him over half per contest.
But with someone like Pettersson, who we know can put a teammate in prime position to finish a sequence, Peterka’s goal-scoring should get a whole lot more consistent. This isn’t to say that, given how late it’s already getting in the season, we’d see a 30-goal campaign, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he managed at least 25 and encroached a 13.0 shooting percentage.
Jack Quinn
Don’t let Jack Quinn’s pedestrian nine-goal, 18-point season fool you too much. Yeah, those numbers look miserable, but Quinn just got off to a rough start and has since shed that inconsistency on most nights.
Like Peterka, a proven playmaker in Pettersson would give Quinn even more scoring opportunities. Pettersson’s presence would also likely give Quinn chances to pass the puck off to someone like Peterka or the next name on this list and they could finish those sequences instead.
Either way, Pettersson would only speed up Quinn’s upward trajectory he’s shown lately, and chances are, you’ll see the productive player who gave the Sabres some strong returns in 2023-24 throughout the final leg of 2024-25.
Jason Zucker
What do you mean, Todd? Isn’t Jason Zucker already cooking to the point you listed him as a would-be All-Star candidate if there was a game this year? Yep, but I’m also saying Zucker would benefit more if he had Pettersson alongside him either at even strength or on the man advantage.
If you think Zucker’s been a good fit so far, logic should already tell you that having another viable center in Buffalo (because Ryan McLeod’s also proven to be a good fit) would work wonders for the older yet still-productive Zucker.