NHL trade deadline

The Instigator Podcast – Quick Hit Trade Deadline Recap

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Josh Norris was the big addition for the Sabres on deadline day and Kevyn Adams did a fair bit of work moving out Dylan Cozens and Henri Jokiharju and extending Jason Zucker. This episode is a quick rundown of Friday’s work by Adams, offering a brief breakdown of the Norris acquisition. In addition, this episode takes a look at a busy deadline around the league, highlighting the most notable deals made at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

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The Instigator Podcast 13.24 – 2025 Sabres Trade Deadline Preview

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With the trade deadline just a few days away, we run down the players on Buffalo’s roster who may be on the move by Friday. We touch on Jordan Greenway, Henri Jokiharju and Jason Zucker while also devoting some time to Alex Tuch as trade rumors around Buffalo’s assistant captain won’t seem to go away.

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Over Thought: A Quiet Deadline Ahead?

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So far, the reporting on Buffalo’s trade deadline outlook has painted the picture of a team that won’t do much by Friday. The league’s biggest insiders are all saying the same thing – the Sabres aren’t looking for futures and they aren’t getting offers that meet their asking price on any of the players they’ve made available. 

If it’s true that the Sabres won’t be especially active on Friday, it will be hard for anyone associated with the team to sell the idea that they’re serious about breaking their playoff drought. The deadline isn’t an ideal venue for the sort of deals the Sabres would need to make in order to bring about any sort of meaningful change, but the indications that Kevyn Adams will stand pat (after a season of inaction) will certainly set off additional frustration within the fanbase. At least however many fans are left to pay attention to such things. I wouldn’t blame anyone for that added frustration. Just follow some Buffalo Sabres live scores and you’ll see just how incomplete this group is. 

I would argue that this doesn’t need to be a week to completely overhaul the roster, or even have a really active deadline. The Sabres only have a few pending UFAs and I think they’d like to keep at least one of them. Any potential for a hockey trade has had cold water thrown on it, but those things can change quickly. Either way, I think you’re talking about one move of that magnitude by the end of the week. And if that happened, I think that would exceed most expectations too. 

Adams’ real work needs to come in the summer. He could and should have done more when the season was younger, but he failed at that task. The summer will be the time when he needs to push the right buttons and jettison passengers. Whether or not he’s capable of it, or has the financial flexibility from ownership remains to be seen. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.23 – Deadline Names to Watch & Listener Questions

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Just a week remains until the trade deadline and the Sabres have won six of seven games. This episode shares a few Buffalo Sabres players I’m keeping an eye on ahead of the deadline before diving in to a few listener questions that touch on the potential downtown soccer stadium, Alex Ovechkin’s record pursuit, Devon Levi and Buffalo’s blueline.

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Adams Adds Another Deadline Surprise

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My how things can change in an instant. 

Most of the reporting surrounding Kevyn Adams and this year’s trade deadline was low key. The Sabres were expected to send out their pending unrestricted free agents, but it seemed any significant work would have to wait until the summer. 

Then Wednesday afternoon, Adams swapped Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram and dropping the biggest bomb of the 2024 deadline season. 

Much of this post had been written at that point, with a hope that Adams would be able to pull off a big deal by Friday. The combination of cap troubles around the league and difficult fits seemed like that might be a longshot. even if the hope of a deadline surprise always lurks. Any deal Adams would have made outside of selling Zemgus Girgensons, Erik Johnson and Kyle Okposo would’ve been a surprise addition in some way. Though I’m not sure anyone was truly prepared for the magnitude of the trade he made with the Avalanche.  

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The Instigator Podcast 12.28 – NHL Trade Deadline Preview

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It’s deadline week and the rumors are flying left and right. We run through a number of topics on this week’s show, including the most recent trades to have been made around the league while offering up one trade that each of us would make if we were in charge of another NHL team.

We then talk about Buffalo’s apparent strategy ahead of this year’s deadline and the trio of pending UFAs Kevyn Adams appears poised to move. We close the show with a pair of trades we’d like to see Adams make before the 3 p.m. deadline on Friday.

The Instigator Podcast 11.25 – Sabres Face a Serious Stretch Run

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We recap the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline and reflect on the busiest deadline for the Sabres since 2015. Each deal the Sabres made over the last week is analyzed as we discuss how Kevyn Adams’ roster tweaks can aid Buffalo’s push for a playoff position. How the Sabres stretch run will shape up ties into our deadline conversation as the team faces a difficult run in to end the season with a tough hill to climb to sneak into the playoffs.

We also give a rundown of some of the most notable deals that were made at this year’s deadline, offering up our favorite, least favorite and biggest surprise.

The Instigator Podcast 11.24 – Sabres Trade Deadline Primer

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With just a few days to go until the trade deadline, the Sabres made their first move of the season. We run down the deal Buffalo made to acquire Riley Stillman and offer up some deeper insight on which other players the Sabres may target before Friday afternoon. We also break down the trades that saw Timo Meier, Jake McCabe and Tanner Jeannot move over the weekend and asses where the market stands after many of the most notable names have been gobbled up.

The Instigator Podcast 10.29 – Quiet Trade Deadline for the Sabres

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Kevyn Adams stood pat at this year’s trade deadline, only moving out Robert Hagg on Sunday. We talk about what the lack of action means for the team as they prepare for the stretch run, how they might fit key youngsters into the lineup and whether or not Adams made the right call by not making additional moves.

We also touch on moves from around the league. Who we felt were the big winners of this year’s deadline and even discuss that wacky Evgenii Dadonov deal.

Projecting a Hypothetical Post-Deadline Roster

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Once again, the Sabres will be sellers at the deadline. While they aren’t overflowing with pending UFAs or highly sought after talent, there will be a few faces missing from Buffalo’s lineup after Monday.

It’s hard to say exactly how many of Buffalo’s trade chips will find their way out the door, but I’ll be surprised if Kevyn Adams doesn’t make at least one or two moves. The Sabres have nine unrestricted free agents who could arguably be available via trade. But the more realistic number is five, maybe six players who are truly available. That list includes Craig Anderson, Cody Eakin, Robert Hagg, Vinny Hinostroza, Colin Miller and possibly Will Butcher. That doesn’t mean all of those players will be on the move, but they each have a profile of a deadline rental.

Players with term or RFA status could also be shipped out, but aside from some whispers about Victor Olofsson’s availability, it doesn’t sound like there would be any imminent moves from the non-UFAs on Buffalo’s roster.

What’s interesting is that while Adams could easily trade away five players on Monday, Buffalo’s roster might not look all that different. The injury bug that ran through Buffalo’s roster shifted the lineup to the point that the Sabres are only now sending players back to Rochester, with Mark Jankowski returned on Wednesday. So, while Hagg and Miller could both gone on Monday, Hagg is the only one of the two with a roster spot that would need to be filled. With Anders Bjork a healthy scratch and Zemgus Girgensons ready to return, the same could be said of Cody Eakin and Vinny Hinostroza.

I think the initial reaction to the Sabres potentially shipping out three or more players would mean a distinct impact to their competitiveness. But things might look pretty similar to how they look now. Right now, the Sabres are +200 underdogs against the Oilers at Betway. Not the greatest odds, but I don’t think you’ll be seeing much longer odds for the club once their work at the deadline is complete.

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