10 NHL clubs scouts at the Buffalo – Florida game
The Buffalo Sabres continue to be prominently mentioned as a seller before the March 8th trade deadline, which means that NHL clubs interested in acquiring one of the half dozen pending unrestricted free agents or perhaps some of their other young players will be scouting the Blue and Gold over the next three weeks.
Excluding the NHL area scouts that are here for nearly all of Buffalo’s games, 10 NHL clubs were represented at the Sabres 4-0 to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Two scouts from the Seattle Kraken were at the game, as well as representatives from the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights.
During the Sabres four-game homestand (in which they went 1-3), the Bruins, Avalanche, Red Wings, Lightning, and Golden Knights have had representatives at multiple games, as has the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Forwards Zemgus Girgensons, Victor Olofsson, Kyle Okposo, Eric Robinson, defenseman Erik Johnson, and goalie Eric Comrie are on expiring contracts.
Of those clubs, the Avalanche, Lightning, Maple Leafs, and Golden Knights could be focusing on Johnson, a physical, right-handed blueliner, who won a Stanley Cup in 2022. The 35-year-old still lives in Colorado during the offseason and could be interested in bringing him back as a depth option for the playoffs, while Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Vegas all have blueline issues due to injury.
The Kraken are four points out of a Western Conference playoff spot and are in the bottom five of the NHL in goals, which could have them interested in Olofsson, who scored 28 goals last season but has been relegated to a bottom-six role with the Sabres this season.
With nearly all of these clubs, Buffalo will have to retain salary for teams up against the cap to make the deal possible.
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