Who Will The Buffalo Sabres Look To Trade This Offseason?
Ryan Paton, Dennis Bernstein, and Dave Pagnotta discussed the situation with the Buffalo Sabres this past Saturday on the Fourth Period Hotstove on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio. Pagnotta suggests that the Sabres will be aggressive this season and could be moving on from some of their core players.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Ryan Paton: “Key time as well for the Buffalo Sabres. And we talked about this over the course of the year we’ve done this. It’s kind of a blueprint for every single show that goes on. So, hey, Buffalo starts off well, then they go in the tank, and then at the end of the season, they play decently, and then you think, Oh, they’re going to be fine. And then they do it again, and the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting something different.
They’re doing something different. On Friday, Dennis, Jarmo Kekäläinen was hired as a senior advisor by Buffalo, so he’ll report to Kevyn Adams, and according to the team, will be involved in every single area of the hockey department.”
Dennis Bernstein: “Yeah, an experienced guy, because, remember, Kevyn Adams is running the financial side of Harborside up there in Buffalo, and (Terry) Pegula likes him. He’s the owner. He has the right to do what he wants? He made Kevyn Adams the GM, and there hasn’t been success there, right? So Jarmo is the next GM in Buffalo. Just kidding, just kidding. He does need a guy who has experience. Yeah, and Kekäläinen’s track record in Columbus was spotty. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible, right?”
So it didn’t really move the team up the food chain. And I know they had that report this week about a handful of players being upset about the direction of the organization and stuff. Well, I was on with Marty Biron and (Steve Kouleas) yesterday (Friday), and Marty said that it’s fake news. So we’ll see. I’m sure that nobody’s happy about (not) winning, and I’m sure the fans from what 13 seasons (14 seasons) aren’t going to be happy about it. But there is talent there, and I know that you mentioned in your column that, Dave, that maybe they go back and look at EP 40 from Vancouver again.
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Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, I, that report was a little blown out of proportion a little bit. Now, I do know, we know Dylan Cozens, whom they traded to Ottawa for Josh Norris, he wasn’t happy there, and he unofficially requested a move. Bowen Byram is kind of in that same boat. We’ll see what happens with him this offseason. He’s a restricted free agent that they’ve been having talks with him, or about him, I should say.”
But there may be others. Like yeah, they need to be aggressive this offseason in what they do, and they need to put their team in a position to finally start that incline. They’ve got some good pieces. Rasmus Dahlin, not going anywhere. Tage Thompson isn’t going anywhere. He’s a beast. Yeah. Other players maybe, like I think they will listen.”
Bernstein: “Tuch. He’s happy there; he’s building a house there. He doesn’t want to leave. He was not unhappy.”
Paton: “He’s a good piece of that puzzle. He’s a good piece in Buffalo.”
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Pagnotta: “Well, he is. Maybe that’s the family home for, for the offseason or down the road. He’s got one year left on his contract. Yes, they’d like to keep him, but I don’t think there was reluctance to explore that in the season. I think there’s more of a willingness to explore it. Now, it would have to be a hell of a trade for them to consider partying with with Alex Tuch, but I believe they’re going to listen. I think they listen on Owen Power, even.
And then they’ve got Byram. They’ve got (J.J.) Peterka, who, he’s got a big contract that they got to figure out, but they need to figure out their direction quick. And I do expect them to be aggressive. DB, you mentioned it. I wrote it yesterday. Elias Pettersson, do you go back to that well? We’ll see.
Do you try to siphon that and see if you can get a deal done with Vancouver for Elias Pettersson, and what does that look like? Is it, is it Byram? Is it going to be Power as a centrepiece, and then you look to add in a forward? Are the Canucks going to be insistent on a guy like J.J. Peterka?
Bernstein: “Well, I would. Byram wouldn’t get him.”
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Pagnotta: “I would, too. I don’t think the asking price for Petey has changed, but Vancouver will listen.”
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