Next Year

Team: 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres

Initial Creation Date: May 17, 2022

Published: May 17, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Trade Reasoning:
Kings Trade: LA has an abundance of defenseman on the right side and the Sabres have an abundance on the left, so this is a prospect for prospect swap. Both Johnson and Grans are similar level prospects.
Hurricanes Trade: Gardiner has one year left on his deal and did not play last season. The Sabres would get Zion Nybeck for taking the last year of this deal on. Nybeck is a solid prospect, but not a high end prospect.
Kraken Trade: Portillo most likely will not be signing with the Sabres because both Devon Levi and Ukko Pekka-Luukkonen stand in his way as far as young goalies in the organization. However, he is still a good goalie prospect and has the potential to be a #1 one day. The Kraken make sense for him because they do not have a premier goalie prospect and Jason Botterill, the GM that drafted Portillo is the AGM.
Ottawa Trade: This trade helps Ottawa because it allows them to dump $15 million in cash over 2 years. This helps Buffalo reach the Cap Floor and it gives them a short term answer in net.

Draft: (https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftsim/#/)
Round 1
1. Shane Wright (Montreal Canadiens).
2. Matthew Savoie (New Jersey Devils).
3. Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes).
4. Juraj Slafkovsky (Seattle Kraken).
5. Simon Nemec (Philadelphia Flyers).
6. Joakim Kemell (Columbus Blue Jackets from Chicago Blackhawks).
7. Danila Yurov (Ottawa Senators).
8. David Jiricek (Detroit Red Wings).
9. Frank Nazar (Buffalo Sabres): Best player available at this point. Has the ability to be a good play driver in the NHL one day.
10. Ivan Miroshnichenko (Anaheim Ducks).
11. Brad Lambert (San Jose Sharks).
12. Liam Öhgren (Columbus Blue Jackets).
13. Cutter Gauthier (New York Islanders).
14. Rutger McGroarty (Winnipeg Jets).
15. Conor Geekie (Vancouver Canucks).
16. Jonathan Lekkerimäki (Buffalo Sabres from Vegas Golden Knights): One of if not the best shooter in the draft. Would be a future middle six player in the NHL.
17. Jimmy Snuggerud (Nashville Predators).
18. Seamus Casey (Dallas Stars).
19. Isaac Howard (Los Angeles Kings).
20. Filip Mesar (Washington Capitals).
21. Tristan Luneau (Pittsburgh Penguins).
22. Jack Hughes (Edmonton Oilers).
23. Denton Mateychuk (Anaheim Ducks from Boston Bruins).
24. Pavel Mintyukov (St. Louis Blues).
25. Marco Kasper (Tampa Bay Lightning).
26. Ty Nelson (New York Rangers).
27. Kevin Korchinski (Minnesota Wild).
28. Nathan Gaucher (Toronto Maple Leafs).
29. Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens from Calgary Flames).
30. Filip Bystedt (Arizona Coyotes from Carolina Hurricanes).
31. Jiri Kulich (Arizona Coyotes from Colorado Avalanche).
32. Noah Östlund (Buffalo Sabres from Florida Panthers): Teammate of 16th pick Lekkerimäki, one of the best 5v5 scorers in the draft.

Round 2
33. Simon Forsmark (Montreal Canadiens).
34. Lian Bichsel (Arizona Coyotes).
35. Luca Del Bel Belluz (Seattle Kraken).
36. Alexander Perevalov (Arizona Coyotes from Philadelphia Flyers).
37. Rieger Lorenz (New Jersey Devils).
38. Bryce McConnell-Barker (Chicago Blackhawks).
39. Ryan Chesley (Ottawa Senators).
40. Elias Salomonsson (Detroit Red Wings).
41. Gleb Trikozov (Buffalo Sabres) : Would be a first round pick if he wasn't Russian.

Unrestricted Free Agency:
PK Subban: A solid veteran RHD to add next to Owen Power. 2 years 4.5 seems like a fair deal for him to sign in Buffalo.

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