What you see is what you may get for the Buffalo Sabres. That's the main takeaway after Patrick Kane opted to rejoin the Chicago Blackhawks amid interest from his hometown club.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Kane and the Hawks reached an agreement on a two-year, $16 million contract ($8 million AAV) on Thursday, ending the future Hockey Hall of Famer's three-week stay in NHL free agency.
The Sabres were named one of the finalists in the Kane sweepstakes. The Buffalo native has faced homecoming buzz every time he's been on the move in recent years but, at least so far, he's decided against making the KeyBank Center his hockey home.
It was a bellwether offseason pursuit for the Blue and Gold because landing the nine-time All-Star would have likely meant further roster changes on the horizon. There was also some thought a blockbuster trade for Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck would have needed to happen first to clear out some of the franchise's forward logjam.
Now Kane has signed in Chicago, and the rumors linking Buffalo to Hellebuyck have faded considerably over the past couple weeks.
It could signal Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is done making moves this summer, at least those of a high-profile nature. Some smaller additions are always possible.
Buffalo Sabres may enter the 2026-27 NHL season with their current roster
More acquisitions were never a necessity for the Sabres. The conversation was more angled toward whether the front office would make a couple "all-in" moves before the new campaign.
As it stands, Buffalo has 16 forwards set to battle for 13 spots, which is why it felt like a Kane signing would probably be linked to something else. It also has three goalies and a few different options for the No. 7 defenseman role (Dennis Gilbert and Zach Metsa).
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Kekalainen make a depth addition or two before training camp. Perhaps a physical right-shot defenseman to compete for the reserve roster spot and/or an offensively focused middle-six forward just for the sake of internal competition.
Neither of those are make-or-break additions, though. The Sabres may instead decide to maintain some salary-cap flexibility for needs that arise throughout the 84-game season.
It'd be fair to argue Buffalo's roster may have taken a step back this summer since Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram departed the organization without direct replacements being brought in. That's the risk the team is taking if it enters the year with its current roster.
Yet, the Blue and Gold are also confident their large contingent of young players, led by the likes of Owen Power, Josh Doan, Zach Benson, Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius and Jiri Kulich, are capable of elevating their play to fill the voids.
There's some risk associated with betting heavily on internal improvement, of course. And the potential downside is increased because the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division are loaded, creating a smaller margin for error in the fierce battle for playoff spots.
That said, it's hard to argue with Kekalainen's approach, which has been focused on trying to build the Sabres into a sustainable winning organization. That's why he kept both of the club's first-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft rather than trading them for win-now pieces.
Buffalo is trying to maximize the length of its contention window, though the result may be some growing pains throughout the 2026-27 campaign.
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