The NHL's off-season is upon us, and there are going to be many moves made on the trade and free-agent fronts. And in this THN.com Sabres site exclusive series, we're breaking down potential trade partners for Buffalo.
The series started with an examination of the Utah Mammoth, followed by the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. And in today's edition of the series, we're putting the spotlight on the Dallas Stars.
As always, we're going to give you pertinent information on the team in the spotlight, as well as the potential fits for the Sabres. With that said, let's get down to business.
TEAM: Dallas Stars
CAP SPACE: $2.75 million
FREE AGENTS: Jamie Benn, LW; Evgenii Dadonov, LW; Mikael Granlund, C; Coiin Blackwell, C; Brendan Smith, D; Cody Ceci, D
NEEDS: Depth on defense; bottom-six forwards; power-play help
SABRES FIT? The Stars have been one of the NHL's more consistently strong teams in the regular-season and Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing second in the highly-competitive Central Division and making it to the Western Conference final for each of the past three seasons.
Unfortunately for Stars fans, Dallas hasn't been able to get over the hump in the conference final, and that fact has already resulted in one major change with the trading last week of veteran winger Mason Marchment to the Seattle Kraken in a salary cap-saving move.
But that isn't the only move coming for the Stars this summer. With only $2.75 million in cap space, Dallas is going to have to move more pieces around, especially if they intend on bringing back lifelong Star and UFA winger Jamie Benn. The 35-year-old Benn earned $9.5 million this past season, and while he'll have to take a significant pay cut to have any hope of staying a Star, Benn is someone Stars GM Jim Nill values greatly.
Sabres Potential Trade Partner: Pittsburgh Penguins
The NHL's 2025 off-season is here, and teams are going to be jockeying for trades and free agents in the coming days and weeks. And in this ongoing <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres">THN.com Buffalo Sabres site</a> series, we've been examining potential trade partners for the Sabres.
And that's not the only area of interest for Dallas, as it's almost universally accepted that the Stars have to improve the overall depth of their defense corps. It's true the Stars have a difference-maker in Miro Heiskanen, and Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell are also key components on the back end. But it's their final 'D' pairing that's the issue for Dallas. And that issue won't easily be addressed.
What do the Sabres have to do with the Stars? Well, Buffalo does have some assets that would pique Nill's interest, starting with RFA winger J.J. Peterka. We've made it clear we believe Buffalo should retain Peterka, but some analysts out there believe the Sabres will move the youngster. And he's exactly the type of up-and-coming, high-impact player who could stick with the Stars for the long term.
In return for Peterka, the Sabres would probably want a young player with high upside, and that player would almost assuredly be right winger Mavrik Bourque. The 23-year-old Bouque -- the same age as Peterka -- completed his rookie season this past year, posting 11 goals and 15 points in 73 games. But most hockey scouts believe Bourque's upside is quite high -- and his 26-goal, 77-point season in the American League in 2023-24 is a very good harbinger of what he's capable of growing into at the NHL level.
Sabres Potential Trade Partner: Los Angeles Kings
THN's <a href="http://thn.com/buffalo">Sabres site</a> is continuing a new series in which we examine potential trade partners for Buffalo. We've kicked off the series by looking at teams including the the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-potential-trade-partner-utah-mammoth">Utah Mammoth</a>, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-potential-trade-partner-colorado-avalanche">Colorado Avalanche</a>, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-potential-trade-partner-vancouver-canucks">Vancouver Canucks</a>, <a href="http://thn.com/philadelphia">Philadelphia Flyers</a>, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-potential-trade-partner-new-york-rangers">New York Rangers</a>.and <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-potential-trade-partner-new-jersey-devils">New Jersey Devils</a>.
Bourque just signed a one-year, $950,000 contract this month, and he'll be a controlled asset as an RFA after that. Bourque being a known financial quantity is important for Buffalo, and Bourque could get more opportunity with the Sabres than he'll get on a stacked Stars squad.
Otherwise, there won't be many other options that Buffalo and Dallas couldn't agree on in any trade. Both team have solid top-four defense corps; both teams need to win now, and not later; and both team have many players who are considered untouchable. That's not an assurance a blockbuster trade won't be made -- nobody foresaw the Colorado Avalanche trading star winger Mikko Rantanen -- but it's not easy for teams to part ways with top talent.
Sabres Potential Trade Partner: New Jersey Devils
The NHL's off-season has arrived, and here <a href="http://thn.com/buffalo">at the Sabres team website on THN.com</a>. we're in the midst of a series of columns examining which teams Buffalo could make a notable trade with.
Thus, the Stars aren't likely to tear down the top of their roster, and the same goes for Buffalo. Unless Dallas trades Bourque to the Sabres for Peterka, we don't see Buffalo or the Stars consummating a trade of note wiith each other this summer. There's just not enugh of the particular talents each side will be asking for in order to get Dallas and the Sabres to hook up on a trade.