When the Sabres announced their qualifying offers for restricted free agents on Monday, Jacob Bernard-Docker was shockingly left off that list. Bernard-Docker came to Buffalo in March along with Josh Norris as part of the trade that sent Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert, and a 2026 second-round pick to the Ottawa Senators.
In his 15 games with the Sabres, JBD had four points and a positive plus-minus of +3. JBD served as a reliable, contract-friendly defenseman who could play the 2nd or 3rd defensive pairing for the next couple of years.
Bernard-Docker just turned 25, and his qualifying offer would have been $866,250 for the 2025-26 season. If the Sabres didn’t see a future for Bernard-Docker, it would have been useful to use him as a trade asset.
Kevyn Adams talked about how well JBD played with Owen Power last season, and now they let him walk away for nothing. Bernard-Docker signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings worth $875,000.
The same amount that his offer sheet was going into the offseason. The Sabres added right-handed defensemen Michael Kesselring and Conor Timmins last week, so Bernard-Docker was going to be a seventh defensemen or rotational player.
It gets confusing when it comes to the situation for JBD, as the Sabres went after other players in his position at the same price. The Sabres signed Jacob Bryson to a one-year contract extension worth $900,000 late in the season. Bryson, an undersized lefty shot defenseman, costs the same as Bernard-Docker and has less of a role with the team.
The other component is Conor Timmins, as he was traded to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline with Connor Dewar and a fifth-round pick. The Sabres recently traded a second-round pick and Connor Clifton for Timmons and prospect Isaac Belliveau.
My theory is that if Timmins were a player Buffalo liked, he would have been available for much cheaper at the deadline while Toronto was trying to clear salary. So why wait till now to give up way more? Clearing three million off the books with Clifton’s contract is nice, but arguably, JBD has a better ceiling than Bryson and Timmins.
I think the Red Wings got a real steal in JBD, and this now makes the Dylan Cozens trade a 1-for-1 deal. JBD proved he wasn’t just a throw-in option on that trade and may make the Red Wings regret their decision.