The Buffalo Sabres are entering this offseason with roughly $13 million in cap space, and the chances that this is enough to bring back both Alex Tuch and Zach Benson are not good. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen should prioritize a deal for Benson, and if they want to bring back Tuch, they are going to need to clear some space.
They could certainly look at doing a buyout of a player, but that is one of the reasons they are in the situation they are in. The Sabres are facing a cap hit of $6.4 million this season due to the buyout of Jeff Skinner, and a better plan long term would be to try to trade some players with high salaries.
The Sabres have several players who could be moved to free up the needed cap space to also sign Alex Tuch. In some of the situations, it isn't so much the return but the valuable cap space, where other players might be able to accomplish both.
These are five players that the Sabres might consider trading over the next few weeks to create the space needed to sign Zach Benson and Alex Tuch to long-term deals.
*All contract figures and salary cap courtesy of Puckpedia
Jordan Greenway
Remaining Contract: 1 year, $4.0 million AAV
Jordan Greenway was a key part of the Sabres' fourth line in the playoffs after dealing with injuries for most of the regular season. Greenway would play every playoff game, averaging around 11 minutes of ice time with two goals, one assist, and 30 hits.
The Sabres certainly wouldn't mind having the player, as he has shown he can be a key contributor. However, an average salary of $4 million is tough for a team to take on when they are in the salary cap crunch that Buffalo is.
It wouldn't be surprising if teams are willing to make a trade, but this is a scenario where Buffalo just tries to move the entire salary, and anything in return would be a bonus.
Josh Norris
Remaining Contract: 4 years, $7.95 million AAV
Similar to Jordan Greenway, Josh Norris was in and out of the lineup for most of the regular season. He finished the regular season playing in only 44 games and had 13 goals and 21 assists, while playing an additional 10 games, but really struggled to make an impact as he had only three points.
The injury concerns and the lack of production is probably going to make it tough to move Josh Norris, even though he is only 26 years old. However, if Jarmo Kekalainen wants to create cap space, moving just Josh Norris probably achieves the goal of being able to sign Benson and Tuch at the contracts they want.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Remaining Contract: 3 years, $4.75 million AAV
The Buffalo Sabres are going to have to make some tough decisions at the goalie position, and the first is whether or not they believe Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen can be their unquestioned starter. If they don't believe that to be the case, then trading him now helps elevate some of their cap space problems.
Luukkonen is coming off a career season where he had a record of 22-9-3 with a save percentage of .909 and a goals against average of 2.52. This would be a case of the Sabres selling high on the player, and with so many teams having questions at the position, they probably could find a suitor.
The challenge with moving Luukkonen is that it does create a big hole at the position, as it feels unlikely they would feel confident going into next season with just Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis. When considering that the Sabres would need a subsequent move by trading Luukkonen, it doesn't feel like this would create as much cap space as some of the other players.
Jason Zucker
Remaining Contract: 1 year, $4.75 million AAV
Jason Zucker just finished up his second season with the Buffalo Sabres and once again was a 20+ goal scorer, with double-digit power play goals. However, in the playoffs, he struggled at times and had only four points in 13 games while seemingly being benched in Game 3 against Montreal with under seven minutes of ice time, although Lindy Ruff would not admit that was the case.
At 34 years old, the playoffs could have been a sign that Zucker is starting to slow down and might not be as productive moving forward as he was even earlier this season. However, unlike Greenway's salary, Zucker brings more to a team as he has shown to be effective on power plays.
This might be a case where there is a little more interest, and the Sabres have a chance to move Zucker for a late-round draft pick.
Jack Quinn
Remaining Contract: 1 year, $3.375 million AAV
Jack Quinn finally got closer to the level fans have come to expect from the former first-round pick as he had 20 goals and 31 assists to break 50 points for the first time in his career. He also finished the playoffs very well with four points in the final three games against the Canadiens.
Even though he has only one year remaining on his contract, he will only be a restricted free agent after next season. For a team that would be willing to trade for him, that is something that they could see as a positive.
For the Sabres, the question is whether or not it is enough savings to be able to sign Alex Tuch and whether it is worth losing a player who looks to be just reaching the prime of his career. It wouldn't be surprising if they try to package Quinn with Zucker or Greenway as a way to shed as much salary as possible.
Right now, the Sabres are going to be hard-pressed to sign both Zach Benson and Alex Tuch with only around $13 million in cap space. However, moving one or two of these players completely changes the outlook and puts them in a great position to keep as much of their core together as possible.
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