Should the Sabres move on from Josh Norris this off-season?
In a recent article for Bleacher Report, Adam Gretz looked at one move that each NHL team should make during this off-season. When it came to the Buffalo Sabres, Gretz urged the Atlantic Division club to trade forward Josh Norris this off-season to free up cap space to make other moves.
"Josh Norris is a solid player when healthy, but that just does not happen anywhere near enough to justify $7.9 million over the next four years. That also makes him difficult to move. But it also only takes one team that sees the talent and wants to take the chance," Gretz wrote.
The Sabres moving on from Norris would be notable, as he is one of their top players. In fact, he even spent time as Buffalo's first-line center this season. Yet, with the Sabres having limited cap space and pending free agents like Alex Tuch, Zach Benson, and Peyton Krebs, it could make sense for Buffalo to move out Norris for the right offer if it means freeing up cap space.
Norris will be entering the fifth season of his eight-year, $63.6 million contract in 2026-27. With this, if any team wants to bring in the Sabres center, they would need to be okay with the fact that he would be much more than a rental.
Norris played in 44 games this season with the Sabres, where he recorded 13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points, and a plus-11 rating. He followed that up by posting one goal and three points in 10 playoff games for Buffalo this spring.
It will be interesting to see if the Sabres end up making Norris available for trade this off-season. With this year's free agent class being very weak down the middle, Norris could generate some interest from teams looking for a top-six center.