In Western New York, the Sabres have gone about their latest way to rebuild the organization in a much more patient and well-thought-out means than they’ve tried under previous regimes. Where GM Kevyn Adams has taken the steady approach is where previous GMs Jason Botterill and Tim Murray’s efforts landed Buffalo right back to square one again and again. Patience is, so far, a virtue for the Sabres and making rash trades or signings is something they haven’t done.
Oddly enough, this is what makes Buffalo a very intriguing team to make a run at rising star Robertson, and former-NHLers-turned-podcasters Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet even said
they believe the Sabres reached out to Dallas about the unsigned star.
Robertson’s age (23) makes him much different than other trade targets they’ve tried in the past to help the Sabres take the next step. He’s much more in line with the young core of talent Buffalo has with Rasmus Dahlin (22), Owen Power (19), Tage Thompson (24), Dylan Cozens (21), and Jack Quinn (21). Even veteran younger players like Casey Mittelstadt (23) and Alex Tuch (26) are in the same generation as Robertson. Those prospects aren’t the only ones cooking for Buffalo either; they’re just the ones set to be in the NHL right now.
Buffalo has more than enough assets when it comes to prospects, draft picks and, perhaps most importantly, salary-cap space to make bringing in Robertson an absolute no-brainer. Buffalo wouldn’t be sacrificing the future to add him because…he’d also be part of the future
and they would still have plenty of prospects and draft picks even after a trade. You can’t cheat the rebuild, and past regimes certainly tried to do that, but acquiring Robertson would enhance it instead.
