One free agent for Buffalo to sign from Carolina

In the previous article, the Calgary Flames were the next team on the list. However, after scanning their UFA's, there wasn't anyone appealing for the Buffalo Sabres to sign. With that being said, the next team up is the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes are currently trying to fight their way back from a 3-0 deficit against the New York Rangers in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. When looking at the list of players who are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents, some attractive names catch the eye.

A couple of those names include Jake Guentzel, Brett Pesce and Teuvo Teräväinen. Another player is defenseman Brady Skjei. In the playoffs, Skjei has one goal and registered nine assists in the 10 games played. He is coming off his best season stat wise. During the 2023/2024 campaign, the defenseman scored 13 goals and recorded 34 assists in 80 games played.

Two years ago, Skjei scored 18 goals. The 30-year-old has been in the NHL for a while now as he's been in the league for nine years, so he isn't an unproven player. As for the Buffalo Sabres, the blue line has been a glaring issue.

Buffalo does not have a single defenseman who is in his 30s, the closest one is Connor Clifton who is 29 years old. Other than Clifton, every blue liner is in their early 20s. Brady would be the perfect addition to the defensive core. Not only for what he can do on the ice, but he could be a good leader for the young guns on the Sabres.

Skjei had a cap hit of $5,250,000 after signing a contract extension with the Rangers before getting dealt to the Hurricanes during the 2019/2020 season.

The next team we will talk about are the Chicago Blackhawks.