Sabres stay busy by trading for Conor Timmins; Bowen Byram’s future seems uncertain

ORCHARD PARK – When general manager Kevyn Adams called Conor Timmins to inform him the Sabres had acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defenseman was at his parents’ cottage just across the border in Fort Erie, Ontario.

As he spoke to Adams on Saturday from the backyard, Timmins, who grew up a Sabres fan about 30 miles away from Buffalo in St. Catharines, said he could see KeyBank Center, the rink he will now call home.

“Another guy that truly wants to be in Buffalo, and he couldn’t even express his excitement to me, just with the opportunity to come,” Adams said Saturday at One Bills Drive after selecting eight players over the final six rounds of the NHL Draft.

Timmins, 26, might have a career-changing opportunity after earning limited action with four NHL teams over his first six seasons.

Right now, Adams said the 6-foot-3, 213-pound Timmins is slated to play on the third pair. But the Sabres, who traded defenseman Connor Clifton and the 39th pick Saturday to acquire him and minor league defenseman Isaac Belliveau, believe he will grow.

“We really like his game,” Adams said. “Just think he’s solid two-way player that is big, right shot, and I think it just really solidifies our D corps moving forward.”

That corps changed significantly over a three-day stretch. On Thursday, the Sabres acquired 6-foot-5 defenseman Michael Kesselring, another right shot, and winger Josh Doan in a trade that sent winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth.

The Sabres sorely needed to find a right-shot defenseman this offseason. Now, they have two in Kesserling, who will likely be given a plum assignment alongside captain Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power, and Timmins, a player Adams said has been on their radar for a while.

Clifton was their top righty last season.

Adams believes all three additions help change his team’s makeup.

“I think we want to be harder to play against … so you’re looking at those type of opportunities to change that and work on that, which I felt that we were able to do through these couple of trades,” he said.

Adams must do more work to reshape the Sabres, who own an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought. Dealing Peterka created a big hole in their top-six forward group.

He said Friday some of Peterka’s production can be replaced internally. He’s more concerned with the Sabres preventing goals and playing a grittier and more responsible style.

Still, he likely wants to acquire another first- or second-line forward.

Free agency opens Tuesday. The Sabres also have a big trade asset in Bowen Byram, who has emerged as one of the NHL’s top young defensemen.

Byram, 24, is set to become a restricted free agent Tuesday and is two years away from unrestricted free agency. With Dahlin and Power entrenched, he could be moved to acquire a top-six forward.

On Friday and Saturday, Adams never dismissed the idea of dealing Byram.

“I had a great conversation with Bo just one-on-one at the end of the season, understanding where he’s at,” he said Saturday. “He’s just a great kid and he loves his teammates and he loves being a Sabre but he also understands that, ‘I have this window in my career and what does it look like and what are our opportunities?’”

Adams said he has been honest during his conversations with Byram’s agent, Darren Ferris.

“We’ll just keep talking,” Adams said. “I don’t think it’s great for me to publicly talk about any sort of contract negotiations. But what he knows is we like him, we believe in him, we think he make our team better with him on (it).

“But if there’s a trade to make that makes sense and we think it’s the right thing to do, we’ll do it.”

Finding the right deal could take time. Last year, the Sabres focused on acquiring a third-line center they could utilize in any situation.

Free agents they targeted did not want to come. Trades failed to materialize.

Eventually, on July 5, they landed center Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers. McLeod enjoyed a career season last year, scoring 20 goals.

“We stayed on it and were able to make the trade we did,” Adams said. “… That was a trade that we thought would help our team immediately, and we had a player that we thought could be with us in his prime years, which is the goal.”