Penguins Interested In Trading For Sabres NHL-Ready Prospects

The trade chatter will begin to ramp up regarding the Buffalo Sabres between now and the NHL’s trade deadline on March 7, with pending unrestricted free agents Jason Zucker, Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Greenway, and James Reimer attracting most of the attention, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, interested clubs are also intrigued by some of the Sabres youngsters.

In Thursday’s 32 Thoughts column, Friedman indicated that the Pittsburgh Penguins are believed to have interest in some of Buffalo’s younger, NHL-ready prospects, which is what the aging Pens are looking for.

Players who might fit that criteria on the Buffalo side are Sabres wingers Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka and Rochester Amerks winger Isak Rosen. Quinn and Peterka are in the final year of their entry-level contracts, while Rosen has one more year left on his ELC.

The Sabres are likely looking for experienced players with term remaining on their contracts who can still perform and help Buffalo establish a winning pedigree. Veteran forwards Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Michael Bunting all have years remaining on their contracts.

The 32-year-old Rust is a two-time Cup winner and has a no-movement clause on his current deal (which has three years remaining at an AAV of $5.125 million), but according to Puckpedia, the NMC drops off at the end of the 2024-25 season. Rakell, 31, leads the Penguins with 23 goals this season and has a modified no-trade clause for this year and the three remaining years of his deal. Bunting, 29, was acquired by Pittsburgh in the Jake Guentzel deal last March, has a modified no-trade for the rest of this season, and has a year left at $4.5 million.

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