The Buffalo Sabres are back within three points of a playoff spot thanks to a six-game winning streak and new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who replaced Kevyn Adams last week, gained a reputation for making bold moves during his time leading the Columbus Blue Jackets' front office.
Yet, despite the sudden surge of optimism in Buffalo, Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report stated the Sabres should still be sellers leading up to the 2026 NHL trade deadline in early March.
"But here is the reality that Buffalo has to contend with: Even with that six-game winning streak they still have one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference," Gretz wrote. "They still have a roster that has a lot of holes. It is still going to be really hard to make up that remaining ground in the playoff race, especially since they are not likely to keep winning every single game."
Those are fair points, and in most instances around the league it's probably an accurate viewpoint, but the outlook is different for the Sabres because of the organization's 14-year playoff absence. Ending the longest such streak in NHL history should be the sole focus.
Why the Buffalo Sabres should be buyers, not sellers, ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline
Kekalainen made it clear he believed in the team's postseason chances despite inheriting a roster that sat in last place in the Eastern Conference at the time of the GM change.
"I think we're close," he told reporters at his introductory press conference. "You can't [hit] the fast-forward button, even if you'd like to sometimes. … I think there are a lot of good pieces here. I think we're very close. I firmly believe we can make the playoffs this year. There's a lot of hockey left."
As it stands, the Sabres are three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the wild-card spot in the East. They're also five points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens for second and third place in the Atlantic Division.
It speaks to the overall competitiveness of the conference, which sees just a 12-point gap from the Carolina Hurricanes at the top (47 points) and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the bottom (35).
So, on one hand Buffalo has multiple avenues to finally bring playoff hockey back to Western New York. On the other, that's a lot of teams in close proximity, so another extended losing skid like the Blue and Gold endured from late October through mid-November would be devastating.
That's why it'll be important for Kekalainen to send a win-now message after the Sabres inevitably cool down from their current surge.
He doesn't have to sacrifice Buffalo's entire future but one aggressive move, likely aimed at adding a top-six scoring winger, would be a welcome sight.
Kekalainen could even make a so-called "hockey trade" where he uses a veteran trade chip like Alex Tuch, who's an impending unrestricted free agent, or Bowen Byram (or both) to refresh the roster without giving up a boatload of picks and prospects.
A trade similar to the offseason blockbuster that sent JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring would make a lot of sense. The Sabres were able to fill two holes — Kesselring is still rounding into form after a pair of injuries, but Doan has been fantastic — at once without parting with any coveted pieces from their farm system.
What Sabres fans don't want to see is another scorched-earth rebuild that sees Tuch moved before the deadline followed by bigger names (Tage Thompson or Rasmus Dahlin) potentially reaching their breaking point and seeking an exit route over the summer.
Trading those franchise cornerstones for futures, thus signaling another three- to five-year reconstruction project, would be a nightmare for an already suffering fanbase.
So, unless the Sabres play so bad between now and the trade deadline that the playoffs become a mathematical impossibly, Kekalainen should be firmly in buyer mode.