Sabres trade mailbag: Evaluating your proposals for Jordan Kyrou, Nazem Kadri and more

The Buffalo Sabres don’t play again until a Saturday home game against the New York Rangers. But with the team sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference, the fans’ focus has already turned to the NHL trade deadline and the roster decisions to come then and into the offseason.

The Sabres have a lot to fix. Jason Zucker, Jordan Greenway and Henri Jokiharju are the pending unrestricted free agents who could be sold off before March 7. But the Sabres are also getting calls on Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and other pieces of what Buffalo thought was going to be the core of this team.

With that in mind, we opened up the mailbag to focus specifically on trades and the moves you all would make to try to repair this roster.

Note: Submissions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Michael Kesselring for Jack Quinn and a sweetener — Justin D.
Buffalo sends Dylan Cozens to Utah for Michael Kesselring and Kevin Stenlund — Andy T.

Kesselring’s name popped up a few times in our trade mailbag. The Utah Hockey Club has a surplus of defensemen at the moment, so that’s a good place to go shopping. Kesselring would be a nice fit for the Sabres and would make sense as a partner for Owen Power. He’s 25 years old, right-handed and has the size and physicality the Sabres could use in their top four.

I don’t know if Utah would be motivated to get rid of Kesselring, who is in just his second NHL season and still has one more season on his contract before he’s a restricted free agent. Of the deals proposed by our readers, the Quinn one is more appealing to me. Whether the sweetener was a draft pick or a B-level prospect, that’s a deal I’d be willing to make. Quinn has struggled this season but still has appealing potential.

But the Sabres could be getting deeper at wing. Tage Thompson has been playing on the wing a lot this season and it’s helping his game. Cozens has also played some wing. At the very least, it looks like Thompson could stick there, which gives the Sabres Thompson and Tuch as top-six right-shot wingers. Quinn could be expendable, and any trade to acquire a right-shot defenseman capable of playing second-pair minutes is going to require a decent piece going the other way.

Cozens feels like too much to give up for Kesselring alone, but Utah also has another player who popped up in a few questions from readers: Lawson Crouse. Crouse, a 6-foot-4 winger, is 27 and in the third year of a five-year contract that pays him just over $4 million per year. He’s on pace for a down year after hitting 40-plus points in back-to-back seasons. But he should finish the season with at least 150 hits for the eighth straight year and also wears a letter for Utah. His two-way game and leadership would make him an appealing target for the Sabres, who need to add more experience and grit to their roster. Maybe a deal centered around these pieces could be the start of a negotiation. But is that enough to convince the Sabres to part with Cozens?

Rasmus Dahlin to the Flames for MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri (half salary retained) — Greg R.

The Sabres say no to this deal.

Weegar and Kadri are the types of players the Sabres could use. Weegar would bring a needed physical edge to the blue line, and Kadri would be an upgrade at center in the top six. But to me, trading Dahlin should be off the table. Since putting his injury behind him, Dahlin has been a difference-maker for the Sabres. He’s signed long-term and turns 25 in April. I believe his best years are still in front of him. He’s also the captain and seems deeply invested in turning this team around. Trading the best and youngest player in a deal is not a formula for climbing out of the rut the Sabres are in.

Dylan Cozens for Nazem Kadri — Sam W.

I like the idea of Kadri for the Sabres, but I’m not sure this is appropriate value without something else coming back for the Sabres. Kadri is 34 years old and still producing at a level that’s worth that $7 million cap hit. But he has four years left at that number and it’s fair to wonder how much longer he can deliver the strong two-way results that make him a top-six center.

Here’s the biggest roadblock with Kadri, though: He has a 13-team no-trade list. He’s from Ontario, but there’s a decent chance the Sabres are on that list.

Dylan Cozens, Konsta Helenius and a 2026 second-round pick for Jordan Kyrou — Tim H.

Jordan Kyrou would be a home-run addition to the Sabres. He’s on pace for a fourth straight season with at least 67 points and has two 70-plus point seasons under his belt at 26 years old. He’s also been a bit better defensively this season. His no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until the start of the new league year, so it’s plausible the Blues would entertain trade offers before that time. It’s going to take a significant package, though, and the one offered here by Tim H. reflects that. The Blues might even ask for another B-level prospect, and I’d probably oblige if it meant getting the deal over the finish line. Here’s what our Blues writer Jeremy Rutherford had to say when I asked about this deal:

“It’s a fair trade. Kyrou is good, but not great so far in his career. He has game-breaking speed and 40-goal potential but doesn’t always put it together. Blues GM Doug Armstrong said he needs to consider moving somebody from the core group and it could be Kyrou.

“My only concern from a Blues perspective: Kyrou is what they need, a scoring winger. They’ve got Robert Thomas as their No. 1 center and Dalibor Dvorsky (No. 10 overall pick) coming up to be their No. 2 center at some point. They also have prospect Otto Stenberg coming up in the middle. If they move Kyrou, they lose his speed and potential on the wing. But if Cozens can help them in the middle (and at wing), that could help. Helenius has a bright future. And the second-rounder might be the icing on the cake.

“So I would say it could make sense for both sides. But if I were the Blues, I would probably need a top-six guy who has 30-, 40-goal potential every year coming back because that’s what they have in Kyrou.”

To Vancouver: Cozens, Quinn, 2025 1st (no protection) and 2026 2nd (mimicking the Jack Eichel trade package for a 1C)
To Buffalo: Elias Pettersson — Torsten S.

I’m not ready to close the door on the Pettersson trade talk. The Canucks traded J.T. Miller, which put the Pettersson trade talk on pause, but Vancouver’s management has shown a willingness to make bold trades. Pettersson’s no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until July, so until then, the talk won’t completely go away.

This is a reasonable proposal for Pettersson. Considering the Canucks just traded for and extended defenseman Marcus Pettersson, it’s possible they would look to add up front instead of on the blue line in an Elias Pettersson deal. Star centers aren’t easy to acquire. And while Pettersson has struggled in the last calendar year, he’s not too far removed from a 100-point season — something nobody on the Sabres’ roster has accomplished. This is a decent package to part with, especially having no protection on the first-round pick. But I think I would make this deal if you could negotiate top-five protection on the pick. I just don’t know if or when the Canucks will get to the point of wanting to deal Pettersson.

Jason Zucker (50 percent retained) for Zach Whitecloud — Jmchn2003

This is an unrealistic expectation of Zucker’s value. Whitecloud is the exact type of defenseman the Sabres could use, but the Golden Knights wouldn’t be motivated to trade him at this price, especially because he has three years left on a contract that carries a manageable $2.75 million cap hit. I like Whitecloud as a target given the fact he’s a right shot and plays a rugged game. But you need to up the offer considerably to get him.

The reality of a Zucker trade would be that futures are coming back the other way. Any team trying to acquire Zucker is doing so to make a playoff push, so sending ready-made players the other way doesn’t make a lot of sense. I still believe finding a way to extend Zucker would be the best course of action, but the way he’s playing, he could net at least a second-round draft pick in return. Greenway could probably fetch a similar price if the Sabres don’t feel confident in contract talks between now and the deadline. But retaining two of the team’s most reliable veteran forwards seems like the ideal move considering this team needs more experience, not less.

Of the unrestricted free agents, Jokiharju might be the most straightforward case. His ice time has diminished under Lindy Ruff, who wants Jokiharju to play a more physical game. Jokiharju hasn’t been bad this year, but his role has been inconsistent. As an unrestricted free agent this summer, it makes sense to get something back for the right-handed defenseman and give him a chance to play elsewhere. He scored a goal and has a decent role for Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, so maybe that will help his trade value.

To Rangers: Jack Quinn, Mattias Samuelsson and 2025 2nd (Michael Peca’s influence sways GM Chris Drury)
To Buffalo: Braden Schneider — Torsten S.

I think the Rangers would say no to this trade. Samuelsson’s contract makes him a much less attractive asset on the trade market given his injury history and how he’s played when healthy the last two seasons. Quinn is having a down year and needs a contract. The Rangers didn’t want to part with Braden Schneider in the Miller trade, which is a sign of how they view the 23-year-old right-shot defenseman. They also have him locked into a comfortable bridge contract at $2.2 million for this season and next. He’d be a nice target for Buffalo, but it doesn’t seem realistic to me.

Is GM Kevyn Adams going to be retained? I would prefer Buffalo not to make any moves until a new GM is in place and can sell Buffalo and also determine the type of player that is needed. — Andrew G.

This line of questioning has been a common one and it’s a valid concern. As you can tell from reading this mailbag, a lot of Buffalo’s potential trades have major ramifications for the future of the franchise. There’s a danger in letting a general manager who is trying to salvage his career make those moves if you’re unsure whether he’ll be the general manager beyond the end of the season. Terry Pegula has shown and even voiced patience to the team this season. But the end of Jason Botterill’s tenure shows how unpredictable he can be with these decisions.

What’s important to remember as the deadline approaches is that a lot of the big moves the Sabres could make to change their roster don’t need to happen by the deadline. The Sabres need to make decisions on pending unrestricted free agents Zucker, Greenway and Jokiharju. Beyond that, the trade market might be better in the summer. And by then, it’s possible Adams won’t be the one making those decisions.

One note on the idea that a new general manager needs to “sell” Buffalo: The best way to do that, as Adams mentioned in that infamous press conference, is to win. He didn’t need to highlight the palm trees and taxes on that day. Nobody in this fan base needed that reminder and they certainly aren’t interested in excuses. That said, I don’t think a new general manager will instantly make the Sabres a more attractive place for established veterans to play. The case for a new general manager is that person would be able to better identify the types of players necessary to round at this roster and have the foresight to take bold and proactive action to make moves happen.