The Sabres And The Two Trade Deadlines

Unless things take a dramatic turn in the next few weeks, the Buffalo Sabres will once again be a seller before the upcoming trade deadline. However, as some hockey insiders have indicated, this season may have two deadlines: one before the nearly two-week break for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off and the official deadline on March 7.

The NHL will break after February 9th for 12 days while players from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden play in Montreal and Boston, with the league resuming their schedule just two weeks before the trade deadline. There is some thought that both buyers and sellers may want to make deals before the 4 Nations, while others may prefer to wait until after to see if their star players come out of the tournament unscathed.

The risk as in every year is that the prices could increase as the deadline approaches, but that could be mitigated by the number of teams that decide to become sellers as they calculate their chances of making a legitimate playoff run.

The Sabres are likely not one of those clubs, as they currently stand nine points out of the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot. Buffalo has a number of pending unrestricted free agents. Wingers Jason Zucker, and Jordan Greenway (currently out with a mid-body injury). defenseman Henri Jokiharju, and goalie James Reimer all could attract a return of draft picks and/or prospects, but all of those are likely moves made after the break and closer to March 7.

There continue to be hints that GM Kevyn Adams is looking to make a more impactful move to bring players who can help the club immediately instead of adding future assets and that deal could come at any time if the Sabres find a trading partner looking for the same thing.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

There is a softness mentally with this team and Rasmus Dahlin after the game, Russ, you know, use the excuse that they said that they weren't going to use at the beginning of the year while we're young. It's like, you know, we have to learn how to win and it's like, no, no, no, no, no. You learn how to win by winning, right? You know, you, you learn how to win by not repeating the same mistakes that you make. And that's all they're doing is repeating the same mistakes that they make. I don't know if it's the, it's the constitution of the team or the coach or a combination of the two. It's everything. I think they need a complete flush again, like not player wise, but other things. Yeah. And, and I mean, I don't think that's going to happen at least with the coaching because Lindy signed a two-year contract. They're still paying Don Granato and they're not going to go out and fire Lindy Ruff and then hire a third coach. What has he done to keep his job? Let's ask that question. Well, I mean, I don't know if everything is on Lindy, but I think one of the things that needed to be done after Don Granato, cause Don Granato was a good man who, you know, treated the players with respect, but the director. He treated us with respect. He bought us coffee. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But the direction of the team was sort of all over the place. Lindy's got them in a direction. It's just not the right direction right now. So. Yeah. Yeah.