If Vegas is desperate

Desperate for what? You didn't provide them with anything they need and in return took their best defenseman

Sabres dont have room for watson and are not going to be helping anyone out, especially not division rivals

Pietrangelo is their best defenseman... and eats up the most minutes and Pietrangelo plays with Martinez so he doesn't even play on the top pairing as Theodore plays with McNabb. They have Hague coming up who plays the LD spot. Vegas will need cap space especially if they struggle this season. Defense is the only area they have left to trim from. The key is not really sending any money back Vegas' way unless they play Thomson in their top 6. Vegas gets 1st rounder, 1st round prospect, and a top end goaltending prospect, and roundly $5M in cap space. Do remember right that come after the Season, Shea Weber's contract counts towards the summer salary cap. So it does help in-season it does not however help you form your team in the summer months. So all in all it's actually a nice haul for Vegas to remove their 2nd pairing defenseman get a top defense prospect, goaltending prospect which Vegas doesn't have outside of Thomson. So yeah it's a fairly decent trade off for both teams.

I only added Buffalo because I read an article saying Adams would like to find some toughness to help look after the younger guys. I figured Watson is a good fit, and makes sense for Ottawa so they can keep Kastelic up who is a big body who skates, hits, and fights. But if Buffalo is looking for a grinding/toughness type player Watson will fit the bill for them.

the guy in this deal isn’t even the sens’ best goalie prospect. they’re not so desperate for cap space that they’d ship their best defenseman off for two mid prospects and a first in 2024.