Could The Sabres Toy With Training Camp Invites?
Buffalo may look to add an inexpensive veteran on a professional tryout
Could The Sabres Toy With Training Camp Invites?The Buffalo Sabres have made several moves in the trade and free agency market since the NHL Draft in Las Vegas last month, acquiring forwards Beck Malenstyn and Ryan McLeod in deals and signing Jason Zucker, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Sam Lafferty, but the move for a potential top-six winger to replace the production of veteran Jeff Skinner has yet to come to fruition.
The plan of Sabres GM Kevyn Adams may be to see if talented youngsters like Zach Benson or Jiri Kulich fill that hole by playing well at training camp this September, and his fallback may be Zucker (who played in the Pittsburgh Penguins top six and scored 27 goals two years ago), but it is possible that he may be willing to look for some insurance by offering a professional tryout to a free agent yet to be signed.
Salary cap room is not an issue, as the Sabres have $14.55 million available (according to Puckpedia), but they may not want to commit to a player on an NHL deal until they see if he can contribute something. Professional tryout invites are about a month away, as you see someone like Daniel Sprong signing a one-year, one-way deal in Vancouver last week, but in late August-early September with camps opening, unsigned free agents looking for a landing spot may roll the dice and take a chance on latching onto a club via the tryout route.
Here are five possible players that could intrigue the Sabres:
Mike Hoffman (San Jose) – The 34-year-old former 30-goal scored has become a journeyman since his days with Ottawa, playing with four clubs (Florida, St.Louis, Montreal, and the Sharks) the last six seasons. He may not be the goal scorer he was, but he may still have a few gallons left in the tank.
Max Pacioretty (Washington) – Another former sniper that has seen better days, the 35-year-old has battled Achilles injuries the last two seasons and only scored four goals with the Capitals last season.
James van Riemsdyk (Boston) – Not a top-six forward any longer (11 goals with the Bruins), JVR is still capable of being a power-play presence in front of the net, which could be of use to the Sabres top unit next season.
Kailer Yamamoto (Seattle) – A relatively young UFA at 25 years old, the former Oilers first-rounder scored 20 goals in 2022, but was swapped to Detroit and bought by the Wings and scored only eight goals in 59 games with Seattle last season.
Dominik Kubalik (Ottawa) – The former Calder nominee scored only 11 goals last season with the Senators, but the 28-year-old scored five goals for Czechia in the World Championships in May and there may still be believers in his ability to score.
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