Let's set aside the nothing significant that KA will accomplish this summer. What do YOU think should happen if Buffalo trades a 1st? All through this board you come in like a wet blanket to tell us how much nothing KA will do, as if we need a reminder. I know nothing impactful will happen. This is a budget team trying to pretend to be a competitive club. But what SHOULD happen is to have a top-2 caliber C that can push either of Thompson or Cozens to 3rd line or wing. They also need bigger, tougher, meaner wings that play a straight-ahead and defensively responsible game. Those guys shouldn't cost a 1st and no 1st rd package deal is getting multiple guys like that from one team. Clearly KA is done with defense and if anything ditches Joker rather than adds, and his boy Levi is getting every chance to be the next starting goalie. So where do YOU think a 1st rd pick should be used to improve the team?
I would put the Sabres 1st on the table to try and pry Cirelli out of TB. I wouldn't expect him to push Thompson or Cozens out of the top 2 C spots. I would expect him to be a 3C that plays the game the right way.
Go find a top 2 C that makes this team better that you could make a legit argument that their team would move him and doesn't have a NTC/NMC clause and would likely block the deal. About the only name you might land on is Zegras and that is the hardest of passes for me. He doesn't play the type of game that this team needs to add. In fact, he plays the style of game that the Sabres need less of, IMO.
One interesting name that is out there is Marco Rossi. I wonder what Florida is going to do this summer with 11 pending UFAs, $21M in cap space, and Lundell hitting RFA status.
And I would be interested in someone like Pavel Buchnevich if they could get him to waive. But, that is highly doubtful.
Looking around the league, there are not a lot of good top 2 Cs (or top 2 line players period) without trade protection.