Buffalo Sabres

Yet Another Branch for the Rick Martin Trade Tree

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

I wouldn’t have expected this trade tree to require another update so soon, but former first round pick Ryan Johnson was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins, necessitating yet another update.

Options for additional growth continue to dwindle, with Johnson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as the two most likely candidates to bring new additions to this trade tree. The best case scenario for Johnson would have seen him packaged in a larger deal, one that might bring about several new names, draft picks or prospects that could really juice the longevity of the tree. His individual value was quite low, as illustrated by the deal that brought back Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch, but it wasn’t out of the question to consider him as a throw-in on a bigger offseason trade (think makeweight in the Bowen Byram deal).

This branch isn’t likely to grow further as both Jones and Laatsch are free agents this coming summer and won’t garner much in the trade market as minor league defenders. That leaves Luukkonen, Tage Thompson and 2025 7th round pick Melvin Novotny as the final active pieces on the trade tree. Obviously, Luukkonen’s name has been in trade rumors dating back to the offseason. It’s certainly possible that he is moved in the next two seasons. Thompson is about as close to untouchable as anyone in Buffalo’s system, but the potential for him to move could grow as his contract winds down. He has three years left after this season and he turns 29 in two weeks. He could be much more expendable in a year or two depending on how the roster evolves around him, though he’s still the least likely of the active players remaining on the trade tree to move.

Branches Still Grow on the Rick Martin Trade Tree

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

We were awfully close to another blockbuster springing a new branch on the Rick Martin (and Don Edwards) trade tree this summer. Had the Connor Hellebuyck trade gone down as it was reported – with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as a piece going back to the Winnipeg Jets – the trade tree would have grown a large new branch. While that trade didn’t come to fruition, another deal did add a new piece to this trade tree which can be traced all the way back to March of 1981, when Rick Martin was traded to the LA Kings.

The newest branch was thanks to the signing rights trade of Stiven Sardarian to the Carolina Hurricanes on August 17. There are sill a few opportunities for this tree to grow, though the options are slowly dwindling as draft picks go unsigned and veterans age out.

Draft Day Musings After a Busy Week

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The 2026 NHL Draft kicks off this evening and round one will cap a whirlwind week across the league. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a flurry of moves of this magnitude and it’s been highly entertaining to track. Over the last seven days Bowen Byram, William Eklund, Jordan Kyrou, Simon Nemec, Valeri Nichushkin and Brady Tkachuk have changed teams and eight first round draft picks have changed hands. 

The rumor mill has been running at full tilt all week and has shown no signs of slowing down. If things fall the right way, we may even be treated to a few big moves during Friday’s first round. With GMs putting the pedal to the floor on offseason moves, I wanted to offer up a collection of thoughts related to this past week’s action and what is on the horizon for the Sabres and around the league. 

The Robertson Saga

Elliotte Friedman reported on Thursday that Jason Robertson had turned down a sign-and-trade offer that would have rewarded him with an eight-year, $15 million contract with Seattle. Later reports suggested that he had also vetoed an extension with the St. Louis Blues. His rejection of the Kraken was a shocking development considering the massive cap outlay they were willing to commit to and now his future is firmly centered around an apparently shrinking list of suitable destinations and the potential for an offer sheet. 

Robertson is one of the few players who is worth, without question, Buffalo’s newly inherited fourth overall pick. That isn’t to say there are others who would be acceptable additions should that pick be traded, but Robertson is the sort of game changing talent who is worth spending a top five pick to acquire. Logic would dictate that Buffalo may not be in the running for him. If Seattle, a no-tax state for the time being, isn’t an attractive enough destination, it would seem likely that he is aiming for a small list of teams that are firm Stanley Cup contenders, in addition to whatever other regional benefits exist. I would be over the moon if the Sabres managed to acquire him with an extension in place. Robertson would immediately level up the quality of their forward group in a meaningful way. I’m sure his list consists of the usual suspects, but his contract asking price could complicate the process for himself and the Stars. It will be far and away the most interesting story to track in the coming days. 

Continue reading →

Sabres Make a Big Splash With Byram Deal

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Sabres are on the board. 

It’s been a hectic week of trades in the NHL, with the Brady Tkachuk blockbuster setting off an impressive run of business just days ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft. Jarmo Kekäläinen got in on the fun, landing a hefty package from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway. 

In addition to defenseman Louis Crevier, the Sabres received the fourth overall and 45th overall picks in this week’s draft, bringing their current pick allotment to six selections. This was the second trade of note involving a Sabres defenseman, after Michael Kesselring was packaged with the 27th pick to slide up to pick 20 in Friday’s first round. 

The deals create a great deal of flexibility for Kekäläinen, who not only holds a pair of first round picks he can dangle in trade talks, but an additional $10 million in cap space he previously lacked. The return on Byram is impressive. Fourth overall is a premium asset few teams find themselves possessing unless they’ve endured a miserable season. The pick, should the Sabres keep it, puts them in the position to add a high-end prospect who can instantly shift the strength of their prospect pool and long-term outlook. 

Continue reading →

Sabres Slide to 20th Overall After Kesselring Swap

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

File Michael Kesselring alongside Colin Miller, Connor Clifton and Marco Scandella in the collection of forgotten Sabres defensemen. Like the others, Kesselring arrived with the hopes he would solidify Buffalo’s top four as a complimentary piece to the team’s existing defensive foundation. In the end, injuries kept him from establishing himself and he was used sparingly in a disastrous individual season. Now, he’s off to San Jose with the 27th pick in exchange for San Jose’s pick at 20 in the 2026 Draft. 

There isn’t too much to say about Kesselring’s one season in Buffalo. He got banged up in training camp and seemingly never recovered. His lack of playing time compounded with his lingering injuries affected his ability to influence the game, causing him to slide down the depth chart. The best case scenario, had he stayed, would have been playing sheltered minutes on the third pair in a rotation with fellow righties Conor Timmins and Zach Metsa. You can understand why he would welcome a change of scenery. 

Continue reading →

Two in the Mailbox: A Big Offseason Looms

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Two in the Mailbox is the somewhat regular mailbag run on the site. This edition tackles a whole bunch of questions regarding Jarmo Kekäläinen’s first offseason in the Sabres’ general manager chair. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions this time around.

Continue reading →

Ruff Returns on the Brink of Two Milestones

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Lindy Ruff is sticking around. The Sabres announced the head coach has signed a two-year contract extension, a fitting reward for breaking the drought and earning a nomination for the Jack Adams Award. 

The extension puts to rest any concern the Sabres would be conducting an impromptu coaching search, as it was understood Ruff had signed a two-year deal upon his initial return to the Sabres. Had he opted to retire, or the less likely option of seeking a position elsewhere, the Sabres would have been left scrambling to find his replacement. This stabilizes Buffalo’s bench, providing some runway for a successor to Ruff to be identified while presenting an opportunity for Ruff to build upon the success the team enjoyed this season. 

Ruff’s return hasn’t been all positive. The 2024-25 season was nothing short of a nightmare. Most of it was the doing of Kevyn Adams, but Ruff’s hiring, at the time, felt more like a desperate play for some positivity within the fanbase than a well-executed coaching search. This year’s turnaround was nothing short of spectacular and it’s the sort of run that brings home hardware. The in-season turnaround, ending the playoff drought and winning the division ought to overcome the resumes of John Cooper and Dan Muse. Although, there was a fairly heavy push for Cooper to finally win the Adams as a quasi it’s his turn, lifetime achievement manner. 

Continue reading →

Double Minors: End of the Line

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Buffalo’s wild ride is over. 

There will be time to lament their game seven loss to Montreal later. Maybe as soon as Tuesday. But for now we can spend time reflecting on a six-month run that reconnected the team to the city, 

There’s a specific type of energy that accompanies the Sabres when they’re rolling. The weather turns and fans are pour out of bars, metro trains and the odd tailgate to converge on the arena. Social media may have amplified the game day antics, but the energy hasn’t changed. In fact, the dregs of the drought may have helped to further galvanize the fanbase around this postseason run. 

Usually, a second round exit would fade into the ether, but I suspect this season will linger. Not just because of the weight of a 14 year playoff drought but because of Buffalo’s most recent failures. Roll the tape back to Kevyn Adams’ palm trees press conference, or the listless Answers Are In The Room loss against the Canadiens. The Sabres felt miles away from competitiveness until that December road trip and Adams’ firing. Whatever it was that lit a fire under this group, the payoff was tremendous. This wasn’t quite at the level of the early 2000s Conference Finals runs, or the Hasek-era teams, but there was a buzz the team and fanbase had sorely lacked. 

Continue reading →

Double Minors: Emphatic Win Sends Series to Seven

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

It’s all to play for on Monday.

The Sabres charged back from a 3-1 deficit to send their series with the Canadiens back to Buffalo after an 8-3 drubbing in Montreal on Saturday.

Once again, the Sabres started fast. Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring 32 seconds into the game and even after Arber Xhekaj tied the game one minute later, the Sabres played on the front foot from the opening puck drop. They carried play for large stretches, but were let down by their goaltedning.

Alex Lyon barely made it 10 minutes, getting beat three times and only registering one save on the night. It looked bleak after Lyon made way for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen but Jason Zucker registered a power play tally to bring the Sabres within a goal at the end of the first.

Continue reading →

Double Minors: Backs Against the Wall

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Yet another dud on home ice set has put the Sabres backs against the wall. They trail the Canadiens 3-2 and will head into a pressure cooker in the Bell Centre in need of a win to extend their season on Saturday. 

Thursday’s game started well enough. Buffalo got a pinball goal off the skate of Jason Zucker and the leg of Mike Matheson to open the scoring. It was yet another quick start for the Sabres, who have made a habit of that throughout the playoffs. Not unlike game three, this one didn’t stick. The flow of the first period was a little wacky. Both teams scored on goals that banked in off an unsuspecting Canadien and the flurry of scoring after the six minute mark felt like something you’d see in a random game in November as opposed to the playoffs. 

This doesn’t matter much in the big picture considering how this game played out, but I can’t help but wonder how Thursday night goes if Conor Timmins and Josh Norris don’t boot that puck for the first Canadiens goal. Assuming the rest of the first period stays the same (and without going too far down a rabbit hole) do the Sabres carry a different level of confidence into intermission if they’re leading 3-1 instead of 3-2? 

Continue reading →