The Sabres are having a breakout year and it looks like they’ll have at least a puncher’s chance of making the post-season dance for the first time in over a decade due to their red-hot goal scorers and the recent improvement in goaltending.
At 16-14-2, the team is well-poised to continue a push for the playoffs if they can stay healthy and continue to score goals at their current clip, but the Sabres could lose all of their momentum if the defense group loses some key players due to injury. Their one weakness has been their defensive depth at both the NHL and AHL level, and indeed that dearth of defensive talent extends lower to all rungs of their development ranks. This weak spot showed itself clearly when Mattias Samuelsson missed a large chunk of November with a lower body injury, and the team went a massive 8-game losing skip while they waited for him to return.
Now, obviously, not all of that losing streak had to do with Samuelsson, but it did highlight the lack of defensively oriented defensemen who can play the right side of the ice if need be. So, today, we’re going to look at some possible players that the Sabres could acquire via trade in order to shore up the right side of their defense.
Evaluation criteria for trade candidates are as follows:
- Defensive acumen is paramount
- Right-handed defensemen (RHD) are strongly preferred
- Only teams far outside of the playoff picture are being considered as trade partners
- Low contract cost is preferred (this is an assumption based on ownership demands)
The age of a given player will not be considered and the reason for that is fairly simple. Contract status – that is both length and AAV – has more importance than age when considering that acquiring a RHD is expensive in almost any case and acquiring a RHD with RFA years remaining is incredibly expensive (see the first-round pick the Sabres paid for Brandon Montour as an example). Young RHD are often not available, and when they are, they cost a ton in terms of trade assets. If we limit ourselves to only RFA-age RHDs, then the cost will skyrocket and the pool from which to draw will narrow considerably.
Low acquisition cost is also not a priority here because the Sabres have made 19 draft selections over the past two drafts and they have eight more draft picks this year, so they have ammo to burn when it comes to filling out the roster. That said, priority is placed on retaining past-and-future first round picks, and instead using one of their three 2023 second round picks as the key piece in any trade.
The selected players run the gamut from old to young, and realistic to wishful thinking. You’ll also notice that Jakob Chychrun is not included in this list. I covered him at length in a previous blog, so while he is a strong candidate, he is not considered here.
Let’s get to it.
Justin Braun – RHD – Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are out of the race and will likely sell off anyone under 30 years of age who isn’t bolted down due to contractual status. That makes the 35-year-old Braun a perfect candidate to be moved for whatever the team can secure in return. Braun spent nine years with the Sharks before spending the last four seasons with the Flyers (and briefly the Rangers). He’s never been a big points getter as evidenced by his career high of 33 points, and this year he’s utterly bottomed out with 0 points in 31 games.
That sounds bad, sure, but remember that we’re not shopping for offensive defensemen, we’re shopping for righties who hold it down in their own zone, and Braun still does that.
The above three-year average looks good, and even the single-year defensive metrics he’s posted on the 2023 Philadelphia Flyers still indicates that he can play a third-pairing role well. He makes $1m for the rest of the season and that’s it for the contract. It wouldn’t be a sexy trade, but it could be highly effective, and it would send a message to the Sabres players and fanbase that the team is trying to win this year. The acquisition cost is probably a 4th or 5th round pick. It’s nothing. The Sabres also do not have an experienced mentor on the backend a la Teppo Numminen and Braun would fill the role of sage elder on this team very well.
Connor Murphy – RHD – Chicago Blackhawks
Let’s get this out of the way first: there’s no indication that the Blackhawks want to trade Connor Murphy but seeing as he’s about to turn 30 years old in March, and because the Blackhawks look primed to enter a lengthy rebuild, they could be wise to sell off Murphy when his value is still at a high point. Afterall, the Blackhawks have been hesitant to sell off other players who are outside of their contention window, and that strategy has backfired for them in the past.
There’s also the matter of the Ohio-native’s 10-team, no-trade list. Maybe the Sabres are on there. Conversely, Murphy came up in the USNTDP just two years before Sabres Head Coach Don Granato was on the staff, so maybe he’s aware of Granato and would want to play here. Who knows; it’s very tricky to pinpoint players’ motivations.
On the ice, Murphy is a defensive defenseman and he’s never scored more than 20 points in a season, but again, his defensive metrics are solid. Further, he’s signed to a modest $4.4m AAV contract through 2026, meaning he could help fill a long-term need on defense at a reasonable cap hit.
Like Braun, Murphy would help fill the “older guy role” while playing sound defense. Perhaps a pair of 2023 2nd round picks gets a deal done. This a player who could play with Owen Power for years to come.
Matt Benning – RHD – San Jose Sharks
Benning is an older player, but in terms of this trio, hes actually the youngest. At 28 years old, he would probably come cheaper than all the rest in terms of acquisition cost as he has almost no name recognition. He spent the first four years of his career with the Edmonton Oilers before landing in Nashville and then signing on the west coast. What truly makes Benning interesting is the four-year, $1.25m per season contract that he signed with the Sharks.
Benning’s deal will take him until his age-31 season, and that modest cap hit means that if his play regresses, he could be sent to the minors with almost no cap hit penalty at the major-league level. Here’s his player card via evolving hockey:
This is an odd trade to value, because while his contributions are modest, his contract is actually really nice from a team-building perspective. If the Sabres could nab him for a mid-level prospect and a 4th, it would be worth a shot.
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