For a long time, the Buffalo Sabres were the team that traded guys away. When a player rose to prominence, but the Sabres kept losing games anyway, they shipped them out of town, hoping to recoup some future assets and try again next year.
These days, the Sabres are different. They went after Connor Hellebuyck. They’re apparently interested in Dylan Larkin. And now it might just be time to talk about Nikita Kucherov.
The Tampa Bay Lightning superstar has requested a trade, and while a lot of attention focused elsewhere on Saturday — and the Lightning have said they won’t honor the trade request — it’s worth noting that if the Sabres wanted, Kucherov might make sense as yet another Buffalo target.
Only in the days and weeks ahead will a full picture of Kucherov’s potential trade outcomes emerge.
But for the first time in a long time, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Sabres yet again involved in a deal that would be bringing Buffalo the big name.
Nikita Kucherov to Sabres?
Kucherov is in the final year of his contract, and it seems like he must’ve not liked the way Tampa Bay was negotiating with him on a future contract, so anything is in play now.
As has been clear with Larkin in Detroit, teams can play hardball and not just make a trade right away after a request, so maybe that’ll happen with Kucherov, too.
But the Sabres have been reported to have interest in Larkin even without being on his approved trade list. Buffalo is lurking just in case.
And if the Sabres want Larkin, there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t want Kucherov. They couldn’t afford both, but evidently they feel they can pay for one star.
Kucherov makes about $1 million more in cap hit than Larkin, which isn’t nothing but is also manageable if the Sabres need it to be.
Buffalo appears to be seeking to make up for the firepower lost when Alex Tuch left in a sign-and-trade to the Washington Capitals. Larkin is a center, unlike Tuch, but Kucherov plays on the wing like Tuch did.
Either player would be a strong acquisition. But if Buffalo throws its hat into the ring for Kucherov, it’d certainly make some sense.
Nikita Kucherov Contract
The one sticking point here may be that Kucherov is on an expiring contract.
If the Sabres were to do this deal, they’d likely want to sign Kucherov to some kind of extension, and it’s not clear whether he’d be interested in doing that with Buffalo.
That’s a consideration for a bit further into the negotiations, though. First, the Sabres would have to express interest. If they do that, then the rest of the talks and decisions can begin.
Sabres, Nikita Kucherov Fit in Trade Logic