With free agency opening Wednesday at noon, the Sabres are staring at a market that looks more expensive than useful. The talent pool is thin, the price tags are steep, and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is trying to patch a roster that has already taken two major hits.
Buffalo enters the offseason with $10,883,236 in projected salary cap space, according to Puckpedia.com, plus a few ways to reshape the lineup. The bigger question is how aggressive Kekalainen wants to be in his first summer on the job. Does he nibble around the edges, or does he chase something far bigger?
The Sabres are operating like a team that believes it can win now. They finished with 109 points, used both of their first-round picks Friday at the NHL Draft and still sit in a go-for-it mode. But since their season ended with a Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the roster has been weakened by trades.
Bowen Byram is gone to the Chicago Blackhawks, where he gets the chance he wanted to become a No. 1 defenseman. Alex Tuch was sent to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade deal. Those moves left Buffalo with glaring holes, especially up front.
On defense, the Sabres may already have a solution in hand. Olen Zellweger, acquired Friday in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, appears positioned to step into Byram’s place.
At 22, he’s not the same kind of budding star, but he brings similar traits and plenty of upside. Buffalo’s blue line remains one of the NHL’s deepest and most talented groups, and it may only need some depth help from here.
Replacing Tuch is a much tougher task. The Baldwinsville native averaged 32 goals over his four full seasons in Buffalo and stood out as one of the league’s best two-way forwards. There are still some interesting free-agent wingers out there, but none match Tuch’s blend of age and impact.
Patrick Kane, 37, produced 57 points in 67 games for the Detroit Red Wings last season. Anders Lee, 35, is expected to test the market after eight seasons as captain of the New York Islanders; he scored 19 goals, his lowest total in a full season in 10 years, though his underlying numbers remained strong with an NHL-high 25.99 expected goals at five-on-five.
Claude Giroux, 38, had 49 points for the Ottawa Senators. Jaden Schwartz, 34, scored 11 goals in 50 games for the Seattle Kraken last season after putting up 26 goals in 81 games in 2024-25.
Even with those names available, Buffalo’s best answer for Tuch might already be in the building. Kekalainen said last week that younger forwards Jiri Kulich, Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund can take on more responsibility now that Tuch is gone.
Kulich, the most experienced of the three, has 75 NHL games under his belt and missed the end of the season after a blood clot sidelined him Nov. 1.
Helenius has played just 13 NHL games, though he also had an impressive playoff stint. Ostlund has appeared in 68 games.
All three are natural centers, all three are 22 or younger, and all three could help absorb some of the offense Buffalo just lost.
But they’re still developing, and the growing pains figure to be part of the package.
That leaves Kekalainen with some hard calls to make, especially with five notable unrestricted free agents on the roster: defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn, along with forwards Josh Dunne, Tanner Pearson and Trevor Kuntar.
If Buffalo is going to keep itself among the Atlantic Division’s elite, trades may be the clearest path. Free agency might offer names, but the Sabres need more than names. They need the right move.
In Other News...
A Major Oilers Blue Liner Is Suddenly At The Center Of Trade Buzz
With free agency creeping closer, the trade market is already starting to stir around some of the leagues biggest names, and Buffalo has been mentioned in the mix on the goalie side. Connor Hellebuyck is one of the players drawing attention as teams try to get ahead of what could become a busy summer, while other high-profile names like Dylan Larkin, Jason Robertson, Zach Werenski and Darnell Nurse are all being tied to potential moves as well.
For the Sabres, the intrigue is obvious because any serious conversation about elite talent naturally gets their attention, especially when the club is looking to keep climbing in the East. Hellebuycks situation has become one of the more closely watched threads in the league, with Buffalo and Carolina both coming up in the chatter, and the way the rest of the market develops could determine whether this stays as background noise or turns into something much bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Kane May Be Facing The Choice Sabres Fans Dread
Patrick Kanes next move is shaping up as one of the more intriguing free-agent decisions of the NHL summer, and Buffalo has a real stake in where it lands. The 37-year-old winger is expected to test the market after his season with the Detroit Red Wings, and the Sabres are among the teams believed to have interest as they look for help up front and in a market that doesnt offer many obvious landing spots for a player of his profile.
The wrinkle for Buffalo is the one that has lingered around Kane for years: he is a Buffalo native, which has always given any possible homecoming an extra layer. Reports have linked the Sabres and Maple Leafs to him, with Chicago also in the mix, and the uncertainty only adds to the tension for a fan base that has seen plenty of near-misses. Whether this turns into the long-awaited hometown ending or another pass on Buffalo is still very much unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Evan Rodrigues Just Reopened A Familiar Sabres Debate
Evan Rodrigues latest move is the kind that inevitably drags Buffalo back into the conversation, because his NHL path still traces to the Sabres. He originally signed with the organization after going undrafted, spent multiple seasons in the system, and only later became the sort of reliable, versatile forward other teams kept wanting in their lineup. The New Jersey Devils are the latest club to bet on that version of Rodrigues, adding him as part of a trade that also sent Jacob Markstrom and Angus Crookshank to Florida in exchange for Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Ben Steeves.
For Buffalo, the familiar debate is less about the trade itself than what Rodrigues has become since leaving. Hes now a two-time Stanley Cup champion, a player with a track record that looks very different from the one he carried when he was still trying to establish himself in Rochester and beyond. With one year left on his contract before free agency, the next question is whether the Devils got him at the right time and whether Sabres fans are left wondering what might have been if his development arc had played out a little differently in their own sweater. [Read more 🡒]