Buffalo is likely out of the playoff race, now 12 points behind the wildcard after a loss to St. Louis

The Buffalo Sabres are now expected to be the focus of several contending clubs before the March 8th trade deadline, as they now have fallen a dozen points out of the Eastern Conference playoff race after a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at Key Bank Center.

10 NHL clubs had scouts at the contest, including Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, and representatives from the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights, and Washington Capitals, but the chatter regarding the Sabres posture over the next month was confirmed when Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, reported on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast that Buffalo is looking to shake up their roster.

"They are looking for help now. They want to make their team better now, and when they're talking about deals they could make, that is their focus." Friedman said.

While pending unrestricted free agents like veteran Zemgus Girgensons, Victor Olofsson, Erik Johnson, Kyle Okposo, Eric Comrie or Eric Robinson would likely only garner draft picks in return, GM Kevyn Adams might be looking for players in return instead or could be willing to make larger deals involving some of the Sabres large prospect pool to add players that will have an immediate impact.

Following the loss to the Blues, Sabres head coach Don Granato was displeased at the effort of his club, and that after a 48-shot outing against Dallas earlier in the week, his group did not go to the high-danger areas for scoring chances on Saturday. This level of compete has been a common refrain from Granato, and with their falling out of the playoff race, it may be time for Adams to shake up the roster significantly.

Center Casey Mittelstadt, who leads the club with 42 points, is someone that contending clubs with limited cap space might be interested in because of his $2.5 million cap hit, but the Sabres looking for NHL players in return and not a package of draft picks and prospects could make a trade involving Mittelstadt challenging.

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