The Connor Hellebuyck chatter around Buffalo still hasn’t died down, and now there’s another sign the Sabres may be circling back with Winnipeg.
On 1st Up with Korolnek and Colaiacovo, Chris Johnston said Buffalo had “re-engaged to some degree with Winnipeg.” He added that the two clubs had already been “linked pretty heavily on a deal that might have happened on draft day,” with the conversation connected to first-round picks.
Johnston also said later in the interview that the draft-day framework was “tied to the fourth pick and I think the eighth pick and the 20th pick at the time.” What that meant in practice wasn’t fully clear.
The Sabres may not have been putting both of their first-round selections, fourth and 20th, into the same deal. Another possibility is that Buffalo was laying out options for Winnipeg: the Jets could land a first-round pick, but whether that was the 20th overall pick alone or the fourth overall pick depended on whether Buffalo also received the eighth overall pick.
That uncertainty hasn’t stopped the speculation from hanging over the Sabres all summer. Hellebuyck remains the name at the center of it until he’s either dealt by the Jets or says plainly that he’s no longer pursuing a trade. Since he recently acknowledged the request, the latter seems unlikely.
The problem for Winnipeg is that Hellebuyck has a no-movement clause, so any move has to get his approval. Right now, Buffalo appears to be the only team he’s been willing to do that for.
For the Sabres, though, the longer this drags on, the more it starts to feel like a distraction. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon are left in an awkward spot, stuck wondering whether they’re being shuffled out instead of simply getting ready for the season ahead.
Reports have said Jarmo Kekalainen has already put forward some solid offers, but the Jets haven’t been willing to part with their star goalie. And after the draft, Buffalo’s trade package has less shine than it did before.
Kekalainen still needs to keep pushing to improve the roster and give the Sabres a better shot at getting back to the playoffs. But there’s a line between being aggressive and chasing a deal too long. With the season drawing closer, Buffalo may be getting to the point where it has to stop waiting and move forward with the goalies already on hand.
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For Sabres fans, the angle is familiar even if the destination is not. Jokiharju was once part of Buffalos defense mix, and his name being linked to movement again naturally invites a second look, but the Sabres may not be in position to join the bidding. Buffalos recent Zach Metsa extension points toward a group that already feels more settled on defense, which could leave the former Sabres blueliner in the kind of market where one teams surplus becomes another teams opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Are Setting A Brutal Standard For These Sabres
The Sabres are coming off a season that should have raised expectations in Buffalo. They finished first in the Atlantic Division in 2025-26 and got through the first round of the playoffs, only to run into Montreal in the second round and come up short. Now the Canadiens are back with few roster changes for 2026-27, which leaves Buffalo staring at a familiar benchmark and a division rival that looks built to keep asking the same questions.
For the Sabres, the path to getting past Montreal starts with areas that have to improve, especially in goal. The gap is not just about chasing the Canadiens in the standings or trying to match them shift for shift, but proving Buffalo can handle a team that has already shown it can stand in the way when the games matter most. If that matchup ends the same way again, the pressure to shake up the roster is going to get a lot harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]