The Buffalo Sabres should be in the market for an impact top-six forward after dealing winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan. The opening weeks of free agency did not provide GM Kevyn Adams with an opportunity to replace Peterka’s production, and with the two-year deal signed last month with defenseman Bowen Byram, Adams will have to try to acquire a scoring forward with younger players, prospects, and/or draft picks. With just a few weeks before training camp, the odds are that an addition like that will have to happen during the season.
Veteran forward Alexander Wennberg was a first-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2013 and spent the first six seasons in Columbus, but has become a journeyman since leaving Ohio as a free agent in 2020. After a one-year stop in Florida, he signed a three-year deal in Seattle with the expansion Kraken. He posted double figures in goals and 30 or more points in all three years, and was dealt to the NY Rangers as a rental at the 2024 trade deadline, where he served in a depth role when New York went to the Eastern Conference Final.
Other Sabres Stories
Projecting Sabres Trade Cost - Lawson Crouse
Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere
The 30-year-old signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the San Jose Sharks last summer, a deal which is slightly higher than expected to help the Sharks get to the cap floor. Wennberg is primarily a playmaker, with 20 or more assists in eight seasons. With San Jose likely to struggle to be in the mix for a playoff spot, he is likely to be a player to be on the market at the deadline, and someone that the Sabres could use as a middle-six setup man if they are challenging for a playoff spot.
What Would It Cost?
Adams has normally been in the rental market and would prefer players with term remaining or retainable years, but if the Sabres are in the mix for the playoffs and with his job on the line if they do not make it, it is likely that he will pull out all the stops. San Jose can retain salary on one player, and with Wennberg’s deal expiring at the end of the season, it is possible they will do that to increase the return in a trade, which could be as high as a second-round pick.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo