The Buffalo Sabres are a legitimate playoff contender in the Eastern Conference, which is a surprise based on their sluggish start to the season, and their recent rise up the standings raises questions about how the front office will handle the 2026 NHL trade deadline in early March.
Perhaps the most intriguing player general manager Jarmo Kekalainen will have to make a decision about is defenseman Owen Power. He's putting together a decent season and would have ample trade value but he hasn't lived up to the sky-high expectations of a No. 1 overall draft pick.
Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff listed Power in the "big names, blockbuster potential, but too soon" category of his latest NHL trade board posted Wednesday.
"Change-of-scenery candidate, but the GM switch from [Kevyn] Adams to Kekalainen slows things down in my mind," Larkin wrote. "Jarmo will need more runway to decide what to do with his (surging) team."
As you'd expect, impending unrestricted free agent Alex Tuch was also listed on the trade board as the Sabres attempt to determine whether a contract extension is possible with the standout winger.
Power has accumulated 13 points (three goals and 10 points) in 40 appearances this season. He's also compiled 35 blocked shots, 20 hits and a minus-two rating in his fifth NHL campaign.
Trading Owen Power would come with massive risk for Buffalo Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen
Nobody would blame Kekalainen if he's ultimately forced to trade Tuch. The worst-case scenario is keeping the Syracuse native until season's end, missing the playoffs by a few points and then watching the forward enter free agency without getting anything in return. That must be avoided.
Moving Power is a completely different scenario. It'd be a franchise-altering decision.
The 23-year-old University of Michigan product has been viewed as a long-term cornerstone since the moment Buffalo selected him with the first choice in the 2021 NHL Draft, and he's under contract through the 2030-31 season, so there's no trade urgency.
Instead, it'd be a bold statement from Kekalainen about the direction he's taking the roster.
How people view Power, both inside and outside Western New York, depends entirely on how they analyze the game.
Statistically, the Canadian blueliner has racked up 124 points (22 goals and 102 assists) in 282 career games despite limited power-play minutes due to the presence of Rasmus Dahlin. He also leads all Sabres defensemen in expected goals for percentage (xGF%) this season at 54.6%, per Natural Stat Trick.
The eye test doesn't do the 6-foot-6 defender any favors, though. He's never learned to leverage his massive frame to win physical battles in front of the net and, while he doesn't make a ton of puck-moving mistakes, when he does they are usually pretty significant gaffes.
So Kekalainen, who's repeatedly stressed the importance of compete level since taking over the front office, may view Power as a high-value trade chip he can use to quickly reshape the roster.
Make no mistake, however, it's a trade that could come back to haunt the Sabres if it's made.
Power is still capable of becoming an All-Star contributor, especially if he's dealt to an organization where he'll become a No. 1 power-play quarterback. His $8.35 million salary also becomes more reasonable with each passing year thanks to the NHL's rising salary cap.
If he's moved before the deadline, and that's probably best described as a extreme long shot at this point, the return package better include multiple instant-impact players, including a high-end forward capable of taking Buffalo's offense to another level.
Anything less and it's a move Kekalainen will almost assuredly look back on as a mistake whenever his Sabres GM tenure comes to a conclusion.
In the end, the Blue and Gold aren't likely to make any rash decision while they're playing well. Those type of blockbusters will probably wait until the summer when there's more runway to move out a key asset and replace him with a trade or free-agent addition.
Tuch is the one exception, and even that'll seemingly be a like-for-like swap for a forward who's under team control for a little bit longer so Buffalo can maintain its playoff pursuit.