Three potential destinations for the Sabres longest-tenured player
Three potential destinations for the Sabres longest-tenured player
The Buffalo Sabres have a number of players that might be on the wish list of Stanley Cup contenders prior to the 3 pm NHL trade deadline on Friday and based on the number of teams that scouted the Blue and Gold late last month, GM Kevyn Adams could be involved in multiple trades before March 8.
A player closing in on 700 games of NHL experience who has not played in the post-season is veteran winger Zemgus Girgensons. The 2012 first-round pick is the longest-tenured Sabre, and re-signed with the club before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency last July, because of his veteran presence and because the Sabres chose to maintain the status quo after missing the playoffs by one point.
This season, Girgensons has seven goals in 43 games, and when asked after a 7-2 victory over Vegas on Saturday whether he wanted to go to a playoff team, the 30-year-old said he had spoken to GM Kevyn Adams but wanted to keep the discussion private.
Here are three potential destinations for Girgensons:
1. Vegas - Golden Knights scouts were a regular presence at Key Bank Center in February and after watching them in a lopsided loss on Saturday, their issues up front have more to do than just the absence of former Sabre Jack Eichel and winger Mark Stone. Vegas has depth issues at forward and will likely have Stone’s $9.5 million cap hit to play with. GM Kelly McCrimmon may be in the Jake Guentzel and Adam Henrique sweepstakes, but could also use an experienced depth winger like Girgensons.
2. Tampa Bay – In the same situation as Vegas, the Lightning have an excellent core group, but not much else, and have the LTIR space opened up by the injury to Mikhail Sergachev. GM Julien Brisebois may be focusing on shoring up a weak blueline, but Tampa could use Girgensons on their third-or-fourth line.
3. Dallas – The Stars made their move on defense adding veteran Chris Tanev and are in the mix to come out of the West. They have an excellent core group and some promising youngsters like rookie Logan Stankoven, but GM Jim Nill may want to back himself with an experienced forward with winger Evgeny Dadonov out until the playoffs.
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