27-year-old forward scored a career-high 22 goals for the Calgary Flames last season
The Buffalo Sabres could go a number of different ways as the NHL is in the midst of trade season following the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency on July 1. With the departure of winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, GM Jarmo Kekalainen is expected to seek out offensive reinforcements to make up for the 44 goals lost by their departures.
We are continuing to look at potential options for the Sabres, now that veteran Patrick Kane has returned with Chicago. Some of the possibilities are not going to match Tuch’s stats, but any additions could provide some relief to the pressure that youngsters Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, or Noah Ostlund will be under to make up the deficit.
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Kekalainen ideally is looking for someone who could make up as much of the 60-to-70 point production that he lost with Tuch, or someone who can fill the leadership gap and/or add some snarl and sandpaper to the middle-six, with the trade of Jordan Greenway to Chicago.
The Sabres appear to be set at center next season, with Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod, and Sam Carrick, and youngsters Kulich, Ostlund, and Helenius capable of shifting to the middle in case of injury. A player like Frost has played center during his seven-year career with Philadelphia and Calgary, but is also capable of being effective on the wing.
The 27-year-old was a 2017 first-rounder of the Flyers, and was dealt to the Flames in 2025. Frost has been a consistent 40+ point forward since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2022, and last season, in his first full year with Calgary, he scored a career-high 22 goals.
Unlike Brock Boeser, who has six years of term remaining, Frost will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2026-27 season. While Boeser would likely cost a couple of the Sabres top prospects, the cost for a quality rental would be significantly less. One factor that could drive the price up on Frost is the normally inflated cost of centers before the trade deadline.
The Flames are a rebuilding club, and have a ton of cap space available, and with Frost in his mid-20’s, he is young enough to be in his prime when they are ready to contend. The question is whether GM Craig Conroy is willing to commit long-term and pay the going rate for a second-line center or top-six/top-nine winger instead of dealing him for a package of draft picks and/or prospects.
An eight-team no-trade list became a factor in the final year of his deal, but Frost being from Aurora, ON (north of Toronto) might make that a non-factor. With the Sabres likely entering the season hoping that their youngsters will pick up the scoring slack, they may choose to wait until the middle of the season before addressing any scoring deficiencies, and that timetable may be a perfect fit for the Flames, considering trading their expiring contracts.
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