The Buffalo Sabres traded away one player in the offseason who, just a season before, looked like a key addition.
In June 2025, the Sabres traded JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth and acquired Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring. Ironically, only Doan remains with the team he was originally traded to and has become a staple for Buffalo. Peterka is now with the Boston Bruins, while Buffalo pawned Kesselring and a first-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for another first-round pick.
Kesselring played in just 34 games for Buffalo and notched two points. Naturally, he wanted to come into KeyBank Center and put on a show. Unfortunately, neither Kesselring nor the Sharks did much of anything and lost 2-0.
It was a downer for Kesselring. Via Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, Kesselring said, “Obviously, personally, I wanted to show that they made a mistake…”
As far as blueliners go, the Sabres appear to be in good shape. Buffalo’s defensemen have become staples in their scoring units early this season. One of Kesselring’s replacements, Olen Zellweger, scored the game-deciding goal on Tuesday, adding insult to injury for Kesselring.
Kesselring’s Time With The Sabres Was Short And Unmemorable
At the absolute least, Kesselring looked like a player who would skate into Buffalo and log bottom-end second-pairing minutes. Instead, he averaged 13:24 of ice time throughout his 34 games. He never looked like the physical player who skated with a mean streak, as he did during his time in Utah and earlier with the Arizona Coyotes.
Kesselring, whose Corsi For at even strength was at least 51.6 in Arizona and Utah in 2023-24 and 2024-25, saw it drop to below 50 percent in Buffalo for the first time since his nine-game stint with the Coyotes in 2022-23.
Ironically, he was on the ice for quite a few goals at even strength. The Sabres scored 18 times, good for an on-ice shooting percentage of 9.4 for Kesselring. That said, Kesselring did not score a goal of his own. He also ended the year with a sound 91.3 on-ice save percentage, and saw 18 goals land in the Sabres net.
Kesselring was also effective with Buffalo’s short-handed unit, with a 90.9 on-ice save percentage when Buffalo was at 4-on-5.
Kesselring May Be Part Of Something Special In San Jose
While the Sabres shut out the Sharks, Buffalo is ahead of San Jose in development at the moment. But like the Sabres, the Sharks are a young team, and Kesselring is young enough to be part of its core. In San Jose, Kesselring is clocking in second-pairing minutes, with an average total ice time of 19:04.
That number ranks third among Sharks defensemen, with only the highly experienced Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse ahead of him. This implies that a top-four spot is Kesselring’s to lose in San Jose.
While he may not feel he proved the Sabres wrong on Tuesday night, he can still forge a permanent spot in an NHL lineup as an effective part of San Jose’s rotation. In the long run, both Kesselring and the Sabres could win out here.
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