3 more blockbuster trade options for the Sabres in the 2024 offseason
The Buffalo Sabres need to find either a top-six winger or a depth center in either free agency or the trade market, so let’s focus on the latter.
The NHL offseason is more than in full force for the soon-to-be 28 teams that will be watching the Conference Finals, and the Buffalo Sabres are one of them. Of course, with the offseason comes a plethora of trade rumors, and since the Blue and Gold have a good deal of capital saved up, don’t be surprised if general manager Kevyn Adams is the one making a big trade this year.
Recently, we talked about a potential trade involving Pavel Buchnevich, but he’s just one player and Adams doesn’t need to key exclusively on the St. Louis Blues star winger. If Adams also wants more security involving a player’s contract and someone younger and with more years remaining in their respective primes, there may be three better options available than Buchnevich.
Each player we’re discussing will be heading into their age-27 or under season, and they all have multiple years left on their respective deals. And thanks to the Sabres current cap space, these are all players they can afford to keep long-term.
Trevor Zegras could actually wind up in the top-six
There isn’t another youngster whose name is being thrown around more than Trevor Zegras’. And it may sound counterintuitive for the Anaheim Ducks to potentially shop him, considering Zegras’ age, early-career success, and the fact he signed a new deal back in October 2023.
But Anaheim is also deep in the prospects pipeline regarding its centers, and the organization also needs a larger quantity of prospects plus all the draft picks they can attain, so there are more than a few pros when it comes to moving Zegras in the coming months. Plus, if the Sabres inquired and ultimately acquired Zegras, they would have a potential top-six center.
Bringing someone like Zegras in would allow the two-way player in Dylan Cozens to drop to the ‘checking line,’ where presumably Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway await. We already saw that Benson was arguably the Sabres most fearless player last season, while Greenway evolved through his first full year with the Blue and Gold, taking his aggressive style up another rung.
Cozens brings that same mentality, so trading for and placing Zegras onto the Kid Line would more than make sense if you’re Kevyn Adams. There are quite a few players he shouldn’t be shy about moving the 11th overall pick for, and Zegras is one of them - and doing so in this draft would give the Ducks two selections in the top 11.
Joel Farabee would be an outstanding young presence in Buffalo
Few youngsters have seen their names thrown around the rumor mill more than Trevor Zegras, but Joel Farabee may clock in at No. 2 on the list. Unlike Zegras and Player No. 3 on this list - a shocker, might I add - Farabee is purely a winger. But he’s a talented one heading into his age-24 season, and as with Zegras, he has multiple seasons left on his current deal.
He struggled through consistency issues this past season, but he still notched a career-high in points and goals with 50 and 22, respectively. Farabee probably isn’t a top-six winger in Buffalo, but he could find himself on a line with whichever “depth center” the Sabres will undoubtedly acquire in the offseason if they didn’t trade for one.
Farabee brings a gritty style worthy of a spot on the third line, and if the Blue and Gold also find the right center, they will be looking at a top-nine with the potential to score at will. Someone like Farabee coming in would increase this team’s odds of being more reminiscent of its 2022-23 selves, so that’s an automatic plus.
Earlier in the year, I also cited Scott Laughton as a potential player for the Sabres to acquire, and he could ultimately be that depth center. Should the Sabres inquire instead about Laughton, then he’s the guy and they’ll likely sign a winger in free agency. If not, someone like Farabee will be more than on the table.
Anthony Cirelli is the ultimate dark horse for the Sabres
You may be shocked to see Anthony Cirelli listed, but he’s been part of the rumor mill since the first of the year, and that hasn’t eased up just yet. We also know Priorities No. 1 and No. 2 for the Tampa Bay Lightning will include bringing back Steven Stamkos and extending Victor Hedman, albeit to smaller contracts than their previous AAVs.
But still, we need to realize just how desperate Tampa Bay already is for cap space before they even complete the Stamkos extension. Take one look at the Lightning’s current lineup, and you’ll also see no-trade and no-movement clauses all over the place.
Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli are the only two with rather lucrative AAVs that don’t have any clause attached to them yet, making one of the two easier to move this summer. But since Cirelli's own no-trade clause kicks in next season, I rolled with him over Hagel.
The Sabres would essentially get a young center with a long-term extension attached, and his $6.25 million AAV won’t be tough for Kevyn Adams to cover since it’s a front-loaded contract. Buffalo would be giving up a lot of compensation in return for a two-way center like Cirelli, especially since this would be an intra-divisional trade. But their center depth would be nothing short of epic heading into the 2024-25 season.
feed
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)