The Buffalo Sabres have a huge offseason ahead of them after they broke their 14-season playoff drought and were just one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. The team doesn't have much cap space available this summer, and they have to try and re-sign forward Alex Tuch, who is the undisputed top player in free agency, meaning he should receive plenty of high offers.
Regardless of whether or not Tuch re-signs, the Sabres will have to free up some money to make some moves. They have a restricted free agent in defenseman Michael Kesselring, who is due for a new contract. Instead of opting to keep Kesselring around on a new deal, they decided to send him over to the West Coast.
On Wednesday, the Sabres officially announced that they have traded Kesselring to the San Jose Sharks, along with the No. 27 overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. In return, the Sabres are getting the No. 20 overall pick in the draft.
The Buffalo Sabres have acquired a first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Michael Kesselring and a first-round pick (27th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft. pic.twitter.com/bexcUk2IZa
— Buffalo Sabres PR (@SabresPR) June 17, 2026
Cap-crunched Sabres trade Michael Kesselring to Sharks
Instead of waiting for a team to try and sign Kesselring to an offer sheet, the Sabres found a team that was interested in the defenseman. It's no secret that the Sharks were seeking some help on defense, as they are expected to draft a defenseman with their second-overall pick. So it's not entirely surprising that they were interested in Kesselring. Now, they will have the exclusive rights to negotiate a new contract with him,. AFP Analytics projects that Kesselring could command a $2.87 million annual salary on a new contract.
Kesselring joined Buffalo before the start of last regular season along with Josh Doan after the Sabres dealt J.J. Peterka to the Utah Mammoth. Kesselring didn't get a full season's opportunity due to injury. In 34 regular season games, Kesselring recorded two assists, 38 blocked shots, 25 hits, and seven takeaways. Kesselring played just one playoff game, with just 4:25 of ice time.
By moving Kesselring, that gave the Sabres a chance to move up seven spots in the first-round to potentially get a better prospect than they would have if they had stayed put with the No. 27 pick. In this year's class, there isn't going to be a franchise difference maker by the time they are on the board with the No. 20 overall pick. They could use it to replace Kesselring on defense, or just implement the best player available strategy.
Kesselring is one restricted free agent off the board for the Sabres. Now, we wait and see what they are to do with some of their other restricted free agents, such as Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson.
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