joshjull
Registered User
Buffalo Sabres: B+
In: Carter Hutton, Conor Sheary, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, Matt Hunwick
Out: Ryan O’Reilly, Robin Lehner, Chad Johnson, Jacob Josefson, Benoit Pouliot, Jordan Nolan
Net Value Added: +2.6 wins
I’m just as surprised that a team that traded one of their best players grades out this high.
While it rarely makes sense to trade top-tier players, Buffalo has internal replacements for Ryan O’Reilly on the way (hello, Casey Mittelstadt) and was in desperate need of capable depth. Letting go of Jacob Josefson, Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Nolan and replacing them with the team’s O’Reilly trade haul of Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, and Tage Thompson should bridge the gap left by O’Reilly’s void. I’d still rather have O’Reilly – there are other avenues to obtain depth that don’t involve trading difference makers like him – but I don’t think the Sabres are that much worse off based on who the new guys are replacing.
Buffalo also added Conor Sheary to the mix in a nice buy-low trade with Pittsburgh, giving them a winger who has a decent history of producing well with superstar centres. The Sabres also upgraded in net with the addition of Carter Hutton, though his small body of work does carry some risk.
The Sabres should be better off next season and took a step closer to relevancy – adding a franchise defender in Rasmus Dahlin at the draft certainly helps, too – but there’s still a lot of work left to do in Buffalo.