After his season ended with the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, Buffalo Sabres first-round pick from the 2025 NHL Draft, Radim Mrtka, made the jump to the AHL. He will now be finishing out the season, hopefully helping the Amerks in their own playoff journey.
However, Mrtka's season could have ended very differently depending on what happened at the NHL Trade Deadline last month. There is a strong chance that he would be a member of the St. Louis Blues after a trade was agreed to that involved Mrtka, but Colton Parayko decided not to waive his no-trade clause, which ended any chance of a deal being done.
However, the Blues seemingly weren't the only team that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was talking to about a trade that might involve their former first-round pick. Recently, Darren Dreger was on OverDrive and shed some light on why MLSE President Keith Pelley mentioned Mrtka in a press conference after firing general manager Brad Treliving.
"I know that both those guys [Buffalo and Toronto] were in trade discussions but not negotiations," Dreger said. "The Buffalo prospect for sure was a piece that if Toronto, let's use for the sake of argument, was considering to trade Matthew Knies or a bigger piece, that player would have had to have been involved coming back."
Could trade rumors involving Radim Mrtka pick up again this summer for the Buffalo Sabres?
The fact that Radim Mrtka was rumored to be available or potentially included in trades at the deadline could point to a few different things. Mrtka was drafted about a month after Jarmo Kekalainen joined the franchise as a senior advisor and was selected by former general manager Kevyn Adams.
There could be a possibility that Kekalainen doesn't believe Mrtka can develop into a top-pair defenseman or doesn't fit in his vision for the roster. In that scenario, it makes sense for him to try to trade him sooner rather than later, with his value as high as it is.
However, that is probably not the case with how well Mrtka has played, so the decision to include him was a risk, as Kekalainen was looking for players who could help Buffalo win now. Parayko certainly would have done, as would have Knies. This stretch in the AHL for Mrtka could give Kekalainen a better idea of how close Mrtka is to the NHL and ready to contribute.
If Mrtka looks to be a season or two away, then the trade rumors could pick up again this summer if the Sabres are looking to make a big splash. However, if Mrtka looks competitive and plays well in Rochester, this could be a signal that he might be ready for the NHL next season, and in that case, then maybe the focus this summer is to trade a defenseman to clear a path for a roster spot on the Sabres for Mrtka.
The Buffalo Sabres focus right now is on the playoffs and how deep they make it could be another indication of what the plan is this summer. A deep playoff run could spur more action to try and make a big splash to get over the hump and if that is the case, then Radim Mrtka could be the key to making that big trade.