Sabres shopping Ristolainen
WGR 550: “Nothing much is happening around the league over the last few days. A lot of teams have turned their direction to July 1st. I was told that the #Sabres are shopping Rasmus Ristolainen hard. Nobody told me that he’s asked for a trade, but we’ll see how it turns out.”
Now may be time to move Ristolainen
Howard Simon of WGR 550: Rasmus Ristolainen is only 24-years old and has 424 NHL games under his belt already. There are plenty of “ifs” surrounding his game and if he should be traded.
Ristolainen still has value around the league and with the holes in the Sabres roster – No. 2 and at least one top-six winger – now may be the time to move him. He has three years left on his deal at a $5.4 million cap hit.
The Sabres should have around $13 million to play with this offseason.
Sam Reinhart and Jake McCabe could also draw some trade interest.
Quality lacking in the free agent market for the Sabres
John Vogl of The Athletic: It doesn’t sound like Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill will be a big player in free agency.
“I know people talk about this year being a big free-agent market,” Botterill said. “Yeah, there’s certainly some high-end talent, but I don’t think there’s the quantity in there.”
Matt Duchene is out of their price range and not much else after that down the middle – Valtteri Filppula, Colin Wilson and Jason Spezza.
Left wing isn’t a priority but they could check in on Ryan Dzingel, Anders Lee, Micheal Ferland and Thomas Vanek.
Right wing could be of interest with what could be available – Joe Pavelski, Corey Perry, Gustav Nyquist, Brett Connolly, Mats Zuccarello, Joonas Donskoi and Jason Pominville.
Left defense free agent options could include Jake Gardiner or Jordie Benn.
If they trade Rasmus Ristolainen, right side options could be Tyler Myers, Anton Stralman and Dan Girardi.
They are looking for a No. 3 goaltender for depth and could look at Calvin Pickard and Scott Wedgewood.
“Over the next week here, whether it’s through trades or the start of free agency, there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs,” he said.
Four potential free agent targets for the Sabres
Paul Hamilton of WGR 550: Free agents the Buffalo Sabres should target if they can get them at a reasonable price.
Justin Williams – a two-year deal at under $5 million per.
Joe Pavelski – a two- or three-year deal at $6.5 million per.
Brian Boyle – carried a $2.55 million cap hit last season.
Micheal Ferland – Would be looking for a good raise from his $1.75 million.