Jarmo Kekalainen has created a lot more financial flexibility than the Buffalo Sabres general manager had when the offseason got underway, but he may not be done moving out excess salary as part of his whirlwind start to the summer.
For example, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet added Sabres winger Jason Zucker to his latest NHL trade board before Friday night's first round of the 2026 draft.
"Buffalo needs to free up money this summer and did so by moving out Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway," Kypreos wrote. "Another one to watch is Zucker, who will make $4.75 million against the cap for one more season."
The 34-year-old forward has recorded 98 points (45 goals and 53 assists) in 135 appearances since the Sabres signed him as a free agent ahead of the 2024-25 season. He's provided vital secondary scoring and is a dependable power-play presence despite that unit's longstanding struggles.
Zucker is now expendable as Buffalo's group of young wingers, led by Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn and Noah Ostlund, have shown themselves capable of stepping into bigger roles.
The 2010 second-round pick is still capable of filling a middle-six role for a contender, and there's limited risk involved with just one year left on his contract. He owns a five-team no-trade clause, but that shouldn't be a significant hurdle to completing a deal for Kekalainen.
Sabres' cap situation, forward depth could lead to an end of Jason Zucker's time in Buffalo
The Sabres were backed into a corner when the offseason began. A lingering $6.4 million dead-cap hit from the 2024 Jeff Skinner buyout left the organization with virtually no wiggle room.
Kekalainen did well to improve the financial outlook quickly. Trading Byram and Greenway sent $10.25 million in salaries out the door, and opting not re-sign Alex Tuch or Michael Kesselring (impending free agents) before moving them to the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks, respectively, helped clear up the cap picture.
Buffalo now has $13.8 million to work with, per PuckPedia. It has one more RFA (Peyton Krebs) and would probably like to retain UFA Beck Malenstyn, though that may be difficult since he'll command a lot of interest on the open market as a proven fourth-line commodity.
Re-signing Krebs would likely leave the Sabres a little over $10 million in space. That's decent, but probably wouldn't be enough to fill all of the club's needs, which include a top-six scoring forward and a second-pairing defenseman to replace Byram.
That's why Zucker's name is starting to pop up in the rumor mill.
Kekalainen could create almost $5 million more to work with by trading the 5-foot-11 California native for a middle-round draft pick. That'd probably be just about enough for the front office to finish all of its summer business while leaving some space for in-season moves.
Buffalo is also facing a numbers game among its forward group. Based on the current roster, here's a rough estimate of how the lines are shaping up if Krebs is ultimately re-signed:
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
Zach Benson | Josh Norris | Tage Thompson |
Noah Ostlund | Jiri Kulich | Josh Doan |
Jason Zucker | Ryan McLeod | Jack Quinn |
Peyton Krebs | Sam Carrick | Konsta Helenius |
Tyson Kozak | Justin Danforth |
For the record, Konsta Helenius isn't going to play on the fourth line. The purpose of the exercise was the show the Sabres essentially have one too many top-nine forwards.
If Buffalo trades Zucker, Helenius slides into the middle six, Danforth joins the bottom line and all of the pieces fit together a little better.
Yes, Kekalainen is going to go big-game hunting this offseason and a few more names on the list above are likely going to change, but the point remains the same: Zucker may not have a clear path to an impact role if he remains with the Blue and Gold.
As a result, it's not a surprise he's starting to get mentioned in the rumor mill and it's not out of the realm of possibility he's moved at some point during the draft Friday or Saturday.
That wouldn't change the fact Zucker was well-timed free-agent addition for a Sabres organization that was finally able to turn a corner after a 14-year playoff drought.
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