As we close out our team trade breakdown series, there are a few Eastern Conference clubs who just don’t seem like a viable trade partner for the Buffalo Sabres. For starters, these squads have needs that do not correspond to the Sabres’ perceived surpluses. Additionally, the reasonable trade candidates on their respective rosters don’t really have strong underlying impacts.

There are a couple of exceptions but overall, none of the four remaining organizations had enough sensible pieces to warrant their own profile. Surprisingly, just four teams in the east ended up fitting this description. Only two of them are Atlantic Division rivals. That’s good news for a Buffalo team that should leave no stone unturned on the trade market this offseason.

First Tier – One (Respective) Target of Interest

New York Rangers

It may come as a bit of a surprise to see the Rangers in this spot. They exceeded expectations to an extent this season, and there is talent on the roster. Their top-six is essentially a lock to come back next season, and the bottom-six is full of young guys on ELC’s, which the Rangers won’t be keen to part with (especially not for future pieces).

The only skater of value who might be dealt (for what would have to be a very lucrative return) is pending RFA, Ryan Strome, but the Sabres don’t have the necessary assets to get that done. Even if they did, Evolving Hockey has his next contract projected at eight-years, $7.38 million AAV. Not exactly a realistic fit for a cap-conscious Buffalo side.

There is one player however who has been linked to the Sabres in trade speculation dating back to the 2020 trade deadline, and he would certainly fill a need between the pipes.

Alexandar Georgiev | G | RFA

As one of the players Jeremy White of WGR 550 tweeted about last week (per his “super-secret source”), the Sabres continued interest in the 24-year-old netminder isn’t much of a surprise. Around the 2020 trade deadline, there were certainly rumors surrounding a potential deal that would send Georgiev to Buffalo, but the Rangers’ ask was too high.

Of the 48 NHL goaltenders who skated for at least 1,500 minutes last reason, he ranked 19^th in GSAx rate. He also out-performed Henrik Lundqvist behind a New York defense that allowed a high-rate of quality shots-against in 2019-20.

Depending on what the Rangers want in return, he would be a great option to handle co-starting duties alongside Linus Ullmark. The fact that they recently bought-out the final year of Lundqvist’s contract complicates matters, and almost certainly reduces their odds of dealing Georgiev. To what extent remains to be seen.

Ottawa Senators

The rebuilding Senators don’t have much to offer this summer in terms of NHL ready pieces. That said, they do have one player who is due a significant pay-raise and may not fit into Pierre Dorion’s “new core” in Kanata.

With a great deal of available cap space, and an embarrassment of draft capital at their disposal, Ottawa is under no real pressure to move salary. That being said, they need to start considering which of their current assets make sense as core pieces moving forward.

Chris Tierney | C | RFA

The 26-year-old Tierney is an interesting case. Ottawa has more than $43 million in cap space to work with, and Tierney’s projected four-year, $4.3 million AAV contract extension is manageable enough. The key here is whether or not the Senators see him as a fit as they try to re-gain their competitive status after a lengthy rebuild.

Over the last few seasons between Ottawa and the San Jose Sharks, Tierney’s metrics don’t really match his base scoring outputs. Despite posting 125 points in 234 games since 2017-18, his underlying impacts have been pretty severely negative, particularly on defense.

For a Sabres team that currently requires a defensively competent third-line center, Tierney isn’t really a match. Add that to the fact that Kevin Adams probably isn’t looking to spend that type of salary on a bottom-six pivot, and the likelihood of a deal is greatly reduced. Prior to the Staal addition, this perhaps would have made a bit more sense, in principle.

Second Tier – Nothing Doing

Washington Capitals

As one of the more surprising additions to this list, the Capitals stand out as a non-divisional team. While they have a great deal of competent NHL players on their roster, they don’t appear to be in a position to sell any of them.

The only player of value who has slightly more than an infinitesimal chance of being dealt is Lars Eller. The 31-year-old pivot has three years remaining at $3.5 million AAV, and if Washington plans to make a splash in the UFA market and push for another Stanley Cup bid, they need to free up salary.

As of right now, they only have $8.9 million in available space. If they intend to retain one of their UFA defensemen in Radko Gudas or Brendan Dillon, that number could get cut by roughly 33-percent. The Capitals need defensive help either way and the only way to pry Eller away from them would require a very competitive package from the Sabres (one that would probably need to include someone like Colin Miller going back the other way).

Outside of Eller, and perhaps a deal that involves draft picks for one of the Sabres depth defenders, there isn’t much of a match here.

Detroit Red Wings

For a Sabres team looking to add established veterans, the Red Wings are probably the worst trade partner fit in the league. On top of the obligatory roadblocks that are typically involved with in-division trades, Detroit simply has nothing worthwhile on a roster that finished last in the NHL by a wide margin this season.

At the top of the lineup, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi aren’t going anywhere. Frans Nielsen, Valtteri Filppula, and Justin Abdelkader are overpaid, in their mid-30’s, and look nothing like their former selves. Brendan Perlini and Luke Glendenning are two of the worst forwards in the league in terms of offensive impact, and the same can be said for pending RFA, Madison Bowey on the blue line.

Simply put, they have nothing of value that they’d realistically part with. Maybe they would consider trading one of their many draft picks over the next two years for someone like Brandon Montour, but aside from that, there isn’t a whole lot of room for creativity here.

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