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Buffalo Sabres trade and team rumblings

Everyone is pretty down on the Buffalo Sabres recently and rightfully so. We’re on the path to watching 36 more pointless games in another season without a postseason.

As such, I decided why not give us some fun stuff to talk about. We all love trade rumors, so I’ll share a few names of some players that the Sabres have inquired about over the last month or so. I’ll also add in a few tidbits about the team itself.

I do want to make it clear off the bat that no trades are imminent right now or even close. These are just players that the Sabres inquired about their availability and asking price.

My brain is fired with this team recently, therefore, I’ll just do this 31 Thoughts style with bullet points.

Let’s get to the fun.

Rumors and Team Rumblings

1. The Sabres were out there looking for options on the blue line when Jake McCabe and Will Borgen were injured. They made a call to a former division rival in the Montreal Canadiens. Brett Kulak and Victor Mete were two players they expressed interest in. Both have been in and out of the lineup.

Mete requested a trade from the Canadiens about a month ago, but Marc Bergevin has stated he’s not interested in moving the young defender at this point. He’s a restricted free agent in the summer.

Kulak is an underrated player that is an “analytics darling.” The 27-year-old would be a player that could be around next season as well. He has one more year on his contract after this season with a $1.85 million cap hit.

2. Jon Merrill is another player they inquired about. He’s currently playing with the Detroit Red Wings on a one-year deal.

3. The last defenseman that I’m aware of that they inquired about was Alex Goligoski of the Arizona Coyotes. The catch here is that he carries a modified no-trade clause where he submits an eight-team no-trade list. The cap hit ($5.75 million) is also an issue here for the Sabres. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

4. Interesting tidbit that I dropped on the podcast is that the Sabres have an interest in John Gibson. They inquired about his availability in the offseason and then again about a month into the season. Both times they were told by the Ducks that they have no interest in moving him at this time.

If he was to be made available in the offseason, they’ll likely try to be involved in the sweepstakes.

5. Sticking with goaltenders I’d keep an eye on Antti Raanta in the offseason as a free agent option. He’s a player that they like. I don’t think it’s likely they’d make a move for him to give up assets during the season with the quarantine situation and place in the standings.

6. Sam Bennett is a player the Sabres called about, but it was more of a kicking tires call.

7. The Sabres and Taylor Hall’s representatives were scheduled to meet this week to begin very early discussions on a contract extension. We’ll see where it goes as the season goes along, but I’d put it at a 60/40 chance he remains with the club.

Believe it or not, he has enjoyed his time in Buffalo. It’s also likely any extension would come in below the $8 million he’s making this season on a short to mid-term deal (3-4 years).

8. This last one is directly related to the Sabres front office. Jason Nightingale and Kevyn Adams had an interest in expanding the analytics department. In fact, they had a list of candidates they were interested in back in the summer. However, their plans to expand the department this season were shut down.

The financial situation with the team due to the pandemic played a factor here. Hopefully, they’ll come back to it down the road.

Again, these are just some rumors that were passed along to me over the last month or so. Nothing is close or even progressed past initial interest that I’m aware of at least. I hope this helped take your mind off the bad hockey team for a little bit.

Now, it’s time to get ready for three games in a row against the New York Islanders.

Photo Credit: Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images
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