Kirill Marchenko keeps surfacing in trade chatter, and the Buffalo Sabres have now been pulled into the conversation alongside two of their Atlantic Division neighbors.
On Thursday, Lyle Richardson of Bleacher Report listed five possible landing spots for the Columbus Blue Jackets winger, and Buffalo was among them. So were the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.
"The pressure is on the Sabres to build on that promising momentum and emerge not just as a perennial playoff club but as a Stanley Cup contender," Richardson wrote.
That interest makes sense given what Buffalo just accomplished. The Sabres are the reigning Atlantic Division champions, having ridden a long surge that started in early December to finish ahead of Montreal and Tampa Bay. It was the franchise’s first division title since 2010.
And the division doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier. All five Atlantic teams that reached the playoffs last season - Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Montreal, Ottawa and Boston - are expected to be back in the mix, while Florida and Toronto have both reworked their rosters with an eye on returning quickly. Even Detroit could become a factor if Dylan Larkin ends up staying after his trade request.
That’s what makes a player like Marchenko so intriguing. The 26-year-old had 67 points, including 27 goals and 40 assists, in 76 games for Columbus last season. Adding that kind of production would help Buffalo offset the loss of Alex Tuch, and it would also keep Marchenko out of the hands of Montreal and Ottawa.
The price, though, would be steep. Our Brandon Croce recently projected a package of Josh Norris, Jack Quinn and two draft picks, including a 2027 first-rounder. That’s the kind of return a high-end name can command right now.
Even so, Columbus has not shown much urgency to move Marchenko before the season begins, despite all the noise around him.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has already been linked to another big swing this summer in Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. But general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has not behaved like someone rushing into a franchise-changing deal. The Sabres seem to believe they can cover for the departures of Tuch and Bowen Byram from inside the organization.
There’s some logic to that. Buffalo has real depth on the NHL roster, much of it young and either in its prime or close to it, and the prospect pipeline got a boost with Daxon Rudolph and Ilia Morozov going in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Still, depth alone may not be enough. The Sabres have cornerstone pieces in Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson, but they do not yet have quite the same level of star power as the league’s top contenders.
Owen Power could still reach another level, and prospects like Rudolph or Konsta Helenius might eventually get there too. For now, though, Buffalo could use one more true difference-maker - maybe even two.
That matters even more if the Eastern Conference stays this crowded. There are going to be good teams that miss the playoffs next season, and every point will carry weight.
So while the Sabres’ internal bet gives them a stronger floor and some protection if injuries hit, they still look like a team that could use a bold move for a legitimate star. Marchenko fits the profile, but for the moment he remains a long shot. He is still a restricted free agent next offseason, which leaves Columbus with no immediate pressure to act.
The Hellebuyck buzz has also faded in recent weeks. For now, Buffalo is trending toward opening 2026-27 with the roster it has.
That may be the safer path. But if the Sabres want to move from promising to truly dangerous, at some point they may still need the kind of blockbuster trade that changes the conversation entirely.
In Other News...
Sabres Face One Trade Debate They Cant Ignore This Summer
With Alex Tuch gone, the Sabres are staring at the kind of summer that can shape more than a roster, because the forward group may be heading into the new season without a major external addition. Trade chatter around Buffalo has quieted, but the conversation has not disappeared, and it has naturally turned toward the sort of impact names that would change the conversation overnight.
Among the possibilities floating around, Dylan Larkin has emerged as the kind of player Buffalo insiders believe would move the needle, even if getting him out of Detroit looks like a long shot. The Red Wings are said to be protective of their top center and the asking price would be steep, which leaves the Sabres waiting on a market that has not offered many easy answers. Connor Hellebuyck has also been part of the broader speculation, but the more immediate question in Buffalo is whether a bold swing is coming at all. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Just Entered The NHL Tier Fans Have Waited For
The Sabres find themselves in a more interesting spot than they have in a while, at least by the way some around the league are mapping out the NHL landscape. Analyst Nick Iacoban has Buffalo among four teams on his Contention Cycle chart that are positioned to matter both now and in the future, a label that reflects a club moving out of pure buildup and into a phase where expectations start to shift.
For Buffalo, that makes this offseason approach worth watching. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen stayed cautious, passing on splashier moves such as a trade for Connor Hellebuyck or a signing of Patrick Kane and instead leaning into internal development, a bet on the roster growing together as the window opens. The hope from here is less about a one-year leap than building the kind of consistent playoff presence that confirms the Sabres are finally settling into the tier fans have been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Development Pipeline Shifts Again With Another Familiar Face Moving On
Rochesters bench will look different again when the AHL season opens, and that matters in Buffalo because the Americans remain such an important part of the Sabres development pipeline. Head coach Michael Leone is set to work with a new staff after both of his assistant coaches from the previous two years moved on to other roles, leaving another familiar layer of continuity to be replaced.
Nathan Paetsch is among the departures after three seasons with the Americans, and his exit underscores how much turnover can ripple through an organization that leans on its farm team for growth and stability. For the Sabres, the changes in Rochester are more than a personnel note, since the people working closest to prospects often shape the daily habits and details that carry over when players make the jump. [Read more 🡒]