The Buffalo Sabres are still hunting for offense, and one name that could be sitting on the edge of the market is Frank Vatrano.
With Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram gone, GM Jarmo Kekalainen is looking to replace 44 goals and find some extra production before training camp. That doesn’t mean every target has to be a perfect statistical match for Tuch. Buffalo could also use help easing the load on youngsters Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund, while adding a little leadership, grit, and sandpaper to the middle six.
Vatrano fits the kind of low-cost swing that can pop up in trade season. The 32-year-old winger, a Massachusetts native and US National Development Program product, went undrafted out of college before signing with Boston in 2015. He never found much traction with the Bruins, but his career took off after a 2018 trade to Florida.
For years, he was a steady scorer. Vatrano put up 24, 16, and 18 goals with the Panthers, then had 18 combined between Florida and the NY Rangers in 2022.
After that came three straight productive seasons with Anaheim - 22, 37, and 21 goals - before last season went sideways. A shoulder injury in late December helped drag him down to just five goals in 50 games.
That’s why he could be available. The Ducks may be trying to clear money to sign RFA winger Cutter Gauthier after Anaheim matched the offer sheet to Leo Carlsson. Other names in the same conversation include Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider, though both are 35 or older and carry cap hits above $6 million while entering the final year of their deals.
Vatrano is a different case. He’s younger, he’s a more realistic bounce-back candidate now that he’s healthy, and his cap hit is $4.57 million. The catch is term: he’s signed through 2027-28.
There’s also the salary deferral piece, which could make him unusually affordable in trade talks. His $9 million deferral - part of a three-year, $18 million extension, paid out at $900,000 annually for 10 years beginning in 2035 - could bring the acquisition cost down close to nothing. Whether Buffalo would even go there is another question, though, given the organization’s fiscally conservative nature.
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