We’re only a month into the offseason for the Buffalo Sabres and we’re still over a month away from the next big offseason event. The NHL Expansion Draft for the Seattle Kraken is scheduled to take place on July 21st. We’ll likely start to see player movement a week or two ahead of that.

We now know that the Sabres will hold the first overall pick going into the 2021 NHL Draft on July 23rd. It brings some clarity to an offseason focused on moving their franchise player in Jack Eichel.

Since that now infamous day of the virtual end-of-season meetings, the talk amongst fans has been which of two paths should the team go down. Some believe they should hang onto Sam Reinhart and Eichel. Finally, build around those two and put a good team on the ice.

The other side believes that it’s time to start over again. The club should move both Reinhart and Eichel for futures. Essentially this would be heading down the path of a rebuild and doing so with the first overall pick in your pocket isn’t the worst idea.

What about option three? This is the offseason option that I see rarely talked about, yet it’s the one that makes the most sense. That path is what some refer to as a “retool.” It would involve moving one of the Reinhart or Eichel to change the core group. The Sabres would move forward building around the player that remains with the pieces acquired from moving the other off the roster.

Sam Reinhart

While it’s possible that Eichel could remain on the roster and Reinhart is removed, I think in this scenario, the odds favor the opposite occurring. It’s more realistic, in my opinion, that if the Sabres go down this path of retooling that they’ll use the pieces from the Eichel trade to build around Reinhart as their top-line center.

My understanding is that Kevyn Adams would prefer to keep Reinhart if the two sides can work out a long-term extension. The Sabres can’t go into any other short-term contracts with the 25-year-old. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after next season.

The odds of Reinhart remaining with the team could improve if Don Granato is back as the head coach of the team. Granato is a big fan of Reinhart and believed in him enough to make him his first line centerman at the end of last season. He was rewarded with a great finish to the season by the Vancouver native.

The question becomes, does Reinhart want to stay in Buffalo? If you go off of his end-of-season Zoom call it didn’t give you the vibe that he’s all-in with the Sabres. I’ve had a few conversations with different people that have indicated that the optics of that interview may not have been what it seemed. Reinhart has never been one that has been much of a talker during interviews.

One particular comment from Don Granato has stuck in my head from his end-of-season media availability. When asked about the players that appeared uncertain about their futures, Granato said:

“But I can tell you all of those players behind the scenes are exceptional to work with…we’re talking about Sammy now he’s always looking over his shoulder am I going out next, can I go out next. I loved that energy about him and he brought that every day, he brought that in practice. So very different when you see him in that situation versus behind the scenes and what you guys see on the ice.”

He reiterated this sentiment on the next question asking about Eichel’s disconnect with the organization. “When they walk in this locker room I can tell you they’re dramatically different than what you see elsewhere,” said Granato.

Now, this may be coach speak, but it does track with some discussions that I’ve had. Particularly in regards to Reinhart’s situation.

The Retool

For the sake of this argument, let’s say that Reinhart remains with the team, Eichel is moved, and Granato is brought back as head coach. The Sabres should have some pieces they can insert into the lineup from the Eichel trade. They’ll also be hoping to get continued growth from players that thrived under Granato like Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, Dylan Cozens, Arttu Ruotsalainen, and Rasmus Asplund.

The Sabres can still go down the route of being a young team with Reinhart on the roster. It’ll be a new core built around Reinhart, Cozens, Dahlin, Mittelstadt and whomever they select at first overall in July.

I’ve spoken for years about how removing Rasmus Ristolainen off this roster alone would be a win for this franchise. Both sides need a change and he has consistently been one of the worst players on the team in on-ice impact.

The most important move may be figuring out what the Sabres are going to do in goal. Even if Linus Ullmark returns, the Sabres need to find another goaltender on the roster. Carter Hutton won’t be back as an unrestricted free agent and the Sabres need to upgrade at that position. Ullmark has battled injury issues throughout his NHL career. They need a good alternative option.

That solution may come via the Columbus Blue Jackets. Due to expansion, the Jackets will likely need to move on of Elvis Merzlikins or Joonas Korpisalo. Both are eligible for expansion and they could lose one for nothing. The Sabres have had their eyes on the Jackets goaltending tandem dating back to the last offseason. On top of all of that, I was told that Jeremiah Crowe spent a lot of time taking in Blue Jackets games last season. He’s the current director of pro scouting for the Sabres.

The overall point I’m attempting to make here is that the Sabres can still put a competitive team on the ice if they move one of their high-end forwards in Eichel or Reinhart. They can make moves to still compete and not go into a full teardown rebuild. At the same time, they don’t need to stay the course with all of the losing.

We’ll see what path Adams decides to go down this summer, but this should be a conversation getting more attention. It’s also the route to changing this hockey club that could appease people on both sides of the coin.

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