For seemingly months, the Buffalo Sabres had been chasing Connor Hellebuyck and trying to get a trade done with the Winnipeg Jets for the star goalie. It started around the NHL Draft, and while they got close, they never got it across the finish line. Their chances to land Hellebuyck disappeared about a week ago when he was traded to the New Jersey Devils.
Surprisingly, though, this was reportedly not the first time the Sabres tried to trade for Hellebuyck. Recently, insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the two teams had serious discussions during the summer of 2023 before Hellebuyck signed a long-term deal with the Jets:
It’s been widely reported that Buffalo and Winnipeg were deep in Hellebuyck discussions at the draft, but someone told me last weekend that wasn’t the first time the Jets and Sabres discussed him. In the summer of 2023, before the goalie signed his long-term extension in Manitoba, the two teams took a looooooooooong look at it. Person wouldn’t say why it fell apart.
That is a notable period for the Sabres, as it was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's rookie season, but he struggled with a goals against average of 3.61 and a save percentage of .892. It is also notable that this was the season that Devon Levi made his NHL debut and went 5-2 down the stretch for the Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres certainly had enough assets to get a trade done for Connor Hellebuyck
Friedman doesn't know who was discussed or why the trade fell apart but looking back at the organization at that time, they had a lot of top prospects. For the Sabres, they should have led with either Luukkonen or Levi as a key part and could add one of their three first-round picks from the prior year in Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund, or Jiri Kulich.
In addition, it probably would have required their first-round pick that year and at the time they had the 13th overall pick. They would end up selecting Zach Benson, who has become a key part of this team and would be a big loss if he wasn't on the roster right now.
Among the skaters on the Sabres' roster, they likely would not have included Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, or Owen Power but once again had several players just starting their NHL careers. That included players like Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, Jack Quinn, and JJ Peterka.
At the time, Hellebuyck already had one Vezina Trophy and was a finalist in another season. He had just turned 30 and was entering the final year of his contract.
While the Sabres had plenty of assets to put together a solid package, the reason it might have fallen apart was general manager Kevyn Adams might have gotten a hint that Hellebuyck would not sign a long-term deal to remain in Buffalo. If that was the case, then it wouldn't make sense for Buffalo to offer a significant trade package for one of the best goalies in the league at the time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google