3 Sabres trade candidates after heartbreaking Game 7 Canadiens loss

The Buffalo Sabres may have seen their 2025-26 season end in abrupt fashion when they lost the seventh game of their second-round series to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime, but that does not take anything away from the team’s season-long accomplishments.

Going into the season, little was expected from the Sabres and most thought they would continue their dry spell of failing to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. After a sluggish start, it appeared the Sabres would miss the postseason for a 15th straight season.

But head coach Lindy Ruff and his players would have none of it. They turned things around in December and began a run that would take them to the top of the Atlantic Division. The Sabres combined timely scoring along with aggressive checking to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

They were pushed in the first round as the Boston Bruins won two games, but the Sabres were victorious in six games behind the explosive play of Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson. They battled the Canadiens to the point of heartbreak before bowing out when Alex Newhook scored the series-winning goal in overtime.

As the Sabres prepare for the NHL Draft and free agency, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen will have a very busy offseason. Tuch is scheduled to be a free agent this summer, and he was the team’s No. 2 leading scorer behind Thompson.

Defenseman Bowen Byram, center Jason Zuch and Jordan Greenway are under contract for the 2026-27 season but will be free agents a year from now. Additionally, Zach Benson will be a restricted free agent this summer. While most NHL teams don’t make runs at RFAs, Benson has been compared to Brad Marchand, and teams could make the effort to bring him in the fold.

Byram could be traded during the offseason

Kekalainen clearly has work to do to keep the Sabres moving in the right direction, and he may have to make several trades in addition to deciding which free agents to sign.

Byram had an excellent run during the postseason and the Sabres would make sure he remains with the team under ideal circumstances. However, Kekalainen will have to spend quite a bit of money in the offseason on Tuch and Benson, and that could put Byram on trade alert.

Byram is under contract with the Sabres for the upcoming season and will be paid $6.25 million. He played on the team’s No. 2 defense pairing along with Owen Power and he had a memorable showing in the postseason as he scored 4 goals and added 3 assists while finishing with a plus-7 rating.

That came on the heels of an excellent regular season that saw him find the back of the net 11 times and register 31 assists. Byram may be on the verge of stardom, and that could turn him into a defenseman who will earn $10 million or more per season on his next contract.

Rather than lose him in free agency next year, Kekalainen may consider trading Byram now and getting an accomplished player along with a draft pick or more in return.

Kekalainen looks at Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Byram and Power as the backbone of the team. “I think the top four of our defense is our driver, our engine,” Kekalainen said, per The Athletic. “Their mobility, ability to move the puck, ability to support offense but also play good defensively. There’s a lot of untapped potential there, too.”

Sabres have a plethora of centers

One of the reasons Ruff feels so good about his team is that the Sabres are rich in centers. Few teams find themselves in that position.

Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod, Konsta Helenius and Peyton Krebs finished the season as the team’s top four centers. In addition to those players, the Sabres also have Jiri Kulich, Noah Östlund, Sam Carrick, Peyton Krebs and Tyson Kozak who can all play the center position.

The Sabres may be able to trade one or more of those centers in order to fill other positions that will allow them to improve in 2026-27. Expect Ruff and Kekalainen to collaborate when it comes to making decision on which players to trade in the upcoming offseason.

Sabres could be looking to upgrade their goaltending in the offseason

The Sabres were relatively happy with their goaltending during the regular season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon did a solid job and they also got an assist from No. 3 goalie Colten Ellis.

Luukkonen had a 22-9-3 record along with a 2.51 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Lyon was 20-10-4 along with a 2.77 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

However, the goaltending was not as good in the postseason. Luukkonen struggled against the Bruins and was replaced by Lyon, who helped Buffalo advance to the second round. However, both goalies had problems against the Canadiens in the second round.

Jakub Dobes of the Canadiens outplayed the Sabres’ goaltending duo, and Kekalainen may want to upgrade Buffalo’s goaltending situation by bringing in a new netminder in a trade.

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