The Buffalo Sabres have made a pair of significant trades around the 2025 NHL Draft and two signings to their NHL roster on July 1, but as things grind to a halt less than two weeks into the summer, the moves made by GM Kevyn Adams have not seemed to advance the ball much on snapping ther club’s league-record playoff drought.

Eliminating the re-signing of center Ryan McLeod to a four-year, $20 million contract extension, because that was only a product of the budgetary reshuflfe of clearing out more than $4 million in cap space with the trades of Sam Lafferty and Connor Clifton, if you look at the three areas of the Sabres squad, they are marginally better in one, definitely worse off in one, and in limbo in the other.  

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Goaltending 

Out - James Reimer, In - Alex Lyon 

The addition of Lyon gives the Sabres a much better safety net behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen if they choose to send unsigned RFA Devon Levi to Rochester again, as Lyon has been effective in stretches with Florida and Detroit, and can be counted on to step in as a starter in a pinch. Reimer was not utilized until the end of the season because UPL was underwhelming for most of the season. Lyon being a better backup is fine, but what the Sabres really need is for Luukkonen to return to the way he played in the second half of the 2023-24 season.

Defense 

Out - Connor Clifton and Jacob Bernard-Docker, In - Zac Jones, Conor Timmins, and Michael Kesselring, Limbo - Bowen Byram

The situation with Byram will go a long way in determining the state of the Sabres defense, as his return gives the club three top-pairing blueliners along with Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Byram being traded significantly decreases the back end’s quality unless they get a defenseman in return. 

Clifton, Bernard-Docker, Jones, and Timmins are all bottom-pairing quality and fairly interchangeable. Adams is high on Kesselring, who will likely be the right-handed complement to either Dahlin or Power, but that is what Clifton was supposed to be two years ago, and how did that turn out? If Byram is traded and not for another defenseman, the fit of Kesselring in the top-four will be the determining factor in the Sabres blueline’s success or failure. 

Forward

Out - JJ Peterka and Sam Lafferty, In - Justin Danforth and Josh Doan

Once again, the Byram situation and who they conceivably get in a trade for him is a big factor here, but currently the Sabres have moved out their second-leading scorer and brought in two forwards who collectively scored 40 points last season. Doan could slot in on the third-line and Danforth is an energizer bunny on the fourth line unit, but the hole left by Peterka, who the club had four years of control on, is cavernous. 

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