Toronto scouts in Buffalo for the second straight game

The Buffalo Sabres continue to be prominently mentioned as a seller before the March 8th trade deadline, which means that NHL clubs interested in acquiring one of the half dozen pending unrestricted free agents will be scouting the Blue and Gold over the next three-plus weeks.

Excluding the NHL area scouts that are here for nearly all of Buffalo’s games, nine NHL clubs were represented at the Sabres 7-0 thrashing of the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Two scouts from the Carolina Hurricanes were at the game, as well as representatives from the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Kings, Ottawa Senators, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canes, Avs, Wings, Kings, and Lightning would all be slotted in the playoff or contender category and could be interested players with expiring contracts, such as forwards Zemgus Girgensons, Victor Olofsson, Kyle Okposo, or Eric Robinson, or defenseman Erik Johnson. With nearly all of these clubs, it is likely that the Sabres would have to retain salary to for teams up against the cap to make the deal possible.

The Sens and Blue Jackets are rebuilding and may be in need of a roster shakeup as much as the Sabres are, which could make them candidates for player-for-player deals, that GM Keyvn Adams is reportedly seeking.

The two clubs that had scouts in Buffalo for the second straight game were Atlantic Division rivals Boston and Toronto. The Bruins are likely on the lookout for help up the middle, with depth issues after the retirement of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Converted winger Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle have done a decent job centering their top two lines, but a long-term injury to rookie Matthew Poitras could have the Beantowners interested in Peyton Krebs or pending RFA Casey Mittelstadt.

Toronto GM Brad Treliving’s appearance on Saturday was followed up by Asst. GM Ryan Hardy on Tuesday. The Leafs are currently in a battle for third place in the Atlantic Division and one of the two Eastern Conference playoff spots and have been looking for blueline help all season, but also could be looking at a penalty-killing specialist like Robinson, with core players like Auston Matthews and William Nylander pressed into PK roles with veteran Calle Jarnkrok injured.

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