Insiders believe that the Sabres have to be considering roster shakeups after a disappointing season
Insiders believe that the Sabres have to be considering roster shakeups after a disappointing season
The Buffalo Sabres may be the epicenter of trade speculation before the March 8th trade deadline and over the summer, based on their lack of progress after coming within one point of a playoff spot last season.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman on the recent ’32 Thoughts’ podcast pondered what changes may be coming. Interest in veteran players on expiring contracts such as Zemgus Girgensons, Erik Johnson, or Victor Olofsson will begin the roster turnover, but their focus was more on a club managing their bevy of top picks under the age of 21 not in the NHL in Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, and Anton Wahlberg, as well as their dilemma regarding leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt this summer.
Friedman believes that Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is reading the frustration of the Buffalo fanbase that has not seen playoff hockey since 2011 and that internally they may be determining which of their prospects can help them immediately, and which could be used as a valuable piece in a potential trade.
Mittelstadt is another dilemma for Buffalo, in that he is having a career year in the final season of a three-year bridge deal and is one year away from unrestricted free agency. The 25-year-old is eligible for salary arbitration this summer, but if the Sabres are not prepared to pay him as they have with Dylan Cozens, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Tage Thompson, Friedman believes that will cause a problem, which will necessitate the Sabres having to trade him.
The question is if Adams sees an opportunity to make a deal involving Mittelstadt in a trade market light on centers. It is clear from their current situation that the Sabres are interested in a hockey deal for someone established in a trade, and not a prospect or a high draft pick. That kind of deal may be a better fit after the season.
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