The Buffalo Sabres may be mostly finished shaping their roster for the upcoming season, but one area still looks open for business: the crease.
Jarmo Kekalainen has already spent the offseason working to cover some key losses, and the team’s goaltending setup is intact for now with presumptive starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and backups Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis. It’s a workable group, but not exactly the kind that sends shivers through opposing coaches.
That is why another late-summer move could still make sense. Not Connor Hellebuyck, but St. Louis Blues veteran Jordan Binnington.
Binnington has been a fixture in trade chatter for a while, and his name keeps coming up whenever Blues rumors surface. With Joel Hofer effectively lined up as the starter in St. Louis, it would not be a surprise if the Blues seriously considered moving Binnington.
The appeal from Buffalo’s side is easy to see. Binnington has a track record as a big-game goalie, both in the NHL and on the international stage for Canada. If he still has that edge, he could have been the difference between going home and reaching the Eastern Conference Final last spring.
The bigger issue is cost. At one point, the price tag on Binnington was thought to be steep, but that may have shifted over the summer. The Blues are better than they were, but they still look like a young team with limited expectations, which could make them more open to moving an impending UFA for less than originally expected.
A straight one-for-one trade would seem unlikely, even if Luukkonen were part of the return. St. Louis could still ask for a draft pick or a prospect to finish the deal, though the Sabres may be able to put together the right package without touching a top prospect or a first-rounder.
Then there’s the contract question. Binnington is in the final year of a six-year deal carrying a $6 million cap hit, and any Buffalo move would have to account for what comes next.
He would likely be looking for a multi-year contract, and if the Sabres were willing to go to something like three years, the number would matter. Would it climb above his current cap hit, or could Buffalo keep it in the same neighborhood?
If Binnington were open to a similar or even lower cap hit, the fit becomes more realistic. Buffalo does not have a goaltending prospect waiting in the wings to take over the job, which makes Binnington a possible bridge option in the crease.
For now, it remains exactly that: speculation. Nothing suggests a deal is close. But if the Sabres are looking for a Plan B, Binnington would be a reasonable one.
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