As the calendar gets closer to the NHL Draft on June 27 I figure it’s now or never to put together a 2025-26 Sabres Mock Offseason. The Panthers have wrapped up a second consecutive Stanley Cup Final victory over the Oilers, and while the Panthers are busy parading the Cup around South Florida the rest of the league has begun the offseason in earnest.
Teams have begun to make trades, sign their pending free agents, and in some cases grant players permission to speak to other teams, but Kevyn Adams has not yet begun the heavy lifting required to take the Sabres from two seasons of regression in the standings to playoff contender.
With that being said let’s get the first portion of business out of the way: resigning restricted free agents. While all the RFAs receive their qualifying offers some of the Sabres of note that take deals before July 1st are Jacob Bernard-Docker (two years at $1.5 million AAV), Jack Quinn (2 years at $2.75 million AAV), Tyson Kozak (two years at $950k), Ryan Johnson (one year at $975k), and Devon Levi (two years at $1.15 million).
Coming off a career year, I’ve opted to sign Ryan McLeod to a long term deal, covering five years at an AAV of $5.25 million. McLeod jumped from a career high of 30 points in 23-24 with Edmonton to 53 in his first season in Buffalo. McLeod proved a valuable piece in the middle six as well as on the penalty kill. Evolving Hockey has McLeod’s projected contract at four years and a shade over $5.5 million per year, so I’m gambling a bit that the lure of his first real life-changing NHL contract is enough to get this deal done, but I’ve also left enough wiggle room in terms of cap space to up my offer if need be.
I’ve also signed JJ Peterka to a two year bridge deal worh $6.25 million a year. There has been a lot of talk about teams being interested in acquiring the young winger, as well as rumors that Peterka is a bit unsettled in the Queen City. Obviously with this signing I don’t think the Sabres will be trading Peterka unless they get an offer they simply can’t refuse; the two year term allows team and player time to work out a long term agreement, and I have a feeling that success on the ice would go a long way in remedying any sort of issues that may need resolving.
You’ll notice that one RFA I did not resign is Bowen Byram. All signs point to Byram moving on after a year and change in blue and gold, and I think that’s best for player and team. The Byram situation is the one that must get resolved before any other decisions are made; partly because this is a deal that must happen before the draft and partly because the team needs to know what their roster looks like with the return of a potential Bryam trade locked in before they move on to other targets.
Since Byram and the Sabres don’t seem to be a long term fit, the first trade of the offseason is Bowen Byram to the San Jose Sharks for Timothy Liljegren and Dallas’ 1st Round Pick (30th Overall). There were plenty of ways to go in terms of a potential Byram trade, but taking the guarantee of getting a right handed defenseman with a manageable cap hit (Liljegren carries a $3 million hit for 2025-26) as well as adding an additional first round pick gives me flexibility for additional moves while hanging on to the 9th overall pick as well as partially addressing the right side of the blue line.
With Byram off to the west coast where he’ll get a legitimate shot to be a #1 defenseman and Liljegren in the fold I’ve decided to turn my attention to Conor Clifton in an effort to continue revamping the defensive group. Clifton was viewed as a wise gamble when he signed in Buffalo two years ago but it simply hasn’t worked out for either side. I’ve opted to ship Clifton to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2025 4th round pick. At first glance this may seem like an ambitious return for what equates to a cap dump, but Clifton is a better player than Henri Jokiharju, who went for a 4th in at the trade deadline last season. More importantly, Clifton is still an everyday NHL player and would serve as a valuable piece that can help insulate the Blackhawks’ young defensemen, especially if they decide to trade Connor Murphy.
A minor deal is Isak Rosen to Dallas for a 2025 5th round pick. Rosen hasn’t been able to stick in Buffalo and has asked for a fresh start. Moving him to one of the few teams without cap room may provide Rosen a better shot at more NHL game time as the Stars will look for cheap options at the bottom of their roster.
The final trade is the big swing that the organization and its fans have been craving. With cap flexibility, an additional first round pick, and a deep prospect pool now is the time to find an impact player or two. My search for difference makers has led me to the desert and the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas has had two straight early playoff exits and given how the organization operates it’d be a shock if they weren’t very involved in the Mitch Marner sweepstakes, and even if Alex Pietrangelo ends up on LTIR they’ll need to create space. In order to help them out (and more importantly greatly improve my roster) I trade Jack Quinn, Konsta Helenius, and Dallas’ 2025 1st round pick for Nic Roy and Zach Whitecloud.
These are two of the few Vegas players without trade protection and both are signed beyond 25-26. Whitecloud is the piece to finally complete the blueline rebuild, and Roy completes the middle six. Whitecloud can slot next to Rasmus Dahlin on the Sabres top pair, which would allow Owen Power to play with a more steady partner in Timothy Liljegren, and more importantly slot Mattias Samuelsson where he should be on the third pair with Jacob Bernard-Docker. Roy has the ability to play up and down the lineup (he finished the playoffs with Vegas in a top six role) but for now the trio of Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, and Roy creates an extremely good third line that Lindy Ruff would be comfortable playing in any situation. The price is steep; a first round pick and the likely the Sabres’ top forward prospect in Helenius. Quinn may be seen as a throw in but I still think there’s a player there who will have a spot on the right side with the departures of Roy, Victor Olofsson, and Reilly Smith.
The next thing up on the league calendar is, of course, the draft. Part of the reason I was OK including Konsta Helenius in the trade with the Golden Knights was that it allowed me to keep the 9th overall pick and the ability to replace Helenius right away in the prospect pipeline. There is very little consensus beyond the top two selections this year, but I’ve set my sights on a center at nine, partly because my previous moves have lessened the need to prioritize grabbing a defenseman like Radim Mrtka. My three targets are Caleb Desnoyers, Jake O’Brien, and Roger McQueen. The likelihood of all three being on the board at nine is close to nil, but I do think one will slip into my hands at the back end of the top ten. Because I think that player is likely to be Roger McQueen, that’s my pick. McQueen has some red flags with injury history, especially because those injuries are back related and he’s so young, but if the injury issues are resolved McQueen is a steal at nine and provides something the Sabres don’t have in the prospect pipeline; a right shot centerman who already measures in at 6’ 5” and close to 200 pounds. If McQueen hits it could be a home run.
As we get into free agency my roster looks pretty set but there’s still one area that I’ve left myself room to strengthen: goaltending. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took a step back last season but enters 25-26 as the starter, but the real question is who will back him up. Devon Levi had a very good season in Rochester but has yet to consistently perform at the NHL level. I’m of the opinion that every team should have three NHL quality goaltenders and this is even more important for the Sabres, who cant afford subpar goaltending to sink their season. With that in mind I sign Alex Lyon for 1 year and $1.5 million. Lyon didn’t light the league up last season in Detroit, but he did provide reliable netminding when called upon and registered a positive GSAx per Money Puck, which happened to be 11 goals saved above expected higher than Luukkonen. I’d give Lyon lead in the clubhouse for the backup job, as he has played 44 and 30 games the last two season which would lessen the load on Luukkonen, who’s coming off consecutive seasons of 54 and 55 games played. While Devon Levi could certainly win that backup role in camp, Kevyn Adams and his staff have no room for error as their contracts all expire in 12 months, which leads me to think Lyon starts the year in Buffalo.
It seems odd that only one free agent signing gets made, but I targeted improving the roster via trade to avoid overpaying for players in a weaker free agent class and I believe the roster as constructed can be a playoff team. Below is the new look 25-26 Sabres roster (with new additions in bold), with over $2.3 million in cap space to spare:
Forwards
JJ Peterka – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
Zach Benson – Josh Norris – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Nicolas Roy
Jordan Greenway- Peyton Krebs- Beck Malenstyn
Defense
Rasmus Dahlin – Zach Whitecloud
Owen Power – Timothy Liljegren
Mattias Samulesson – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Alex Lyon
Scratches
Sam Lafferty, Tyson Kozak, Jacob Bryson
Two in the Box 