Sabres Analysis
What Sabres Should Do With All This Cap Space

The Sabres have locked in starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for five years at $4.75 million per season, leaving an abundance of salary cap space with one restricted free agent yet to sign. According to PuckPedia, including all three goalies, the Sabres are about $8.5 million under the cap. Peyton Krebs is the only remaining player unsigned and will give Buffalo 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goaltenders on the NHL roster once he does.
The Sabres signed their two arbitration-elected players, Luukkonen and forward Beck Malenstyn before their scheduled hearings. Malenstyn’s average annual value was about $200,000 under Evolving-Hockey’s contract projection. Luukkonen’s deal was even lower than projected, at about $750,000 per season.
That leaves Krebs, who is not arbitration-eligible. Evolving-Hockey projects his contract to be three years at about a $1.75 million cap hit. That would be a significant upgrade from his $874,125 qualifying offer currently on the table. At this point, with his role and future with the team unsettled, a two-year deal is much more likely for Krebs, which is projected to carry around a $1.5 million yearly value.
Subtracting Krebs’ deal and one of the goalies likely headed to Rochester, either James Reimer or Devon Levi, the Sabres have a cool $8 million in cap space remaining. That doesn’t even cut into the cap room created by the buyout of Jeff Skinner. As it stands, the Sabres paid $18,222,225 in future cap implications not to find a top-six forward, but rather to never hear a goal song from High School Musical again.
It’s difficult to fathom that this was the intention heading into the buyout. Carrying over 9% of the NHL cap limit in unused salary isn’t ideal for a team desperately trying to reach the playoffs. The Sabres can, of course, still be searching for ways to improve the NHL roster. Let’s get into Buffalo’s remaining options.
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Unrestricted Free Agency
The simplest way to add to the roster is by signing an unrestricted free agent. The Sabres have rounded out their forward and defensive depth and signed their starting goalie in Luukkonen. That leaves one clear lineup hole – top six-forward.
Even after the top talent signing, some big names remain in free agency. These big names are aging former top contributors, however, like James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Johnson, Mike Hoffman, and Max Pacioretty. Even someone like Blake Wheeler, who played a top-line role for the New York Rangers much of last season, was derailed by injuries and poor production.
The Sabres could sign one of these players to a short-term deal for a fraction of the $8 million in cap space and hope there is some sort of resurgence. It’s not a likely outcome, but at least it would be a player unphased playing in the role.
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Restricted Free Agency
Offer sheets are on the table as well, with several restricted free agents still yet to sign their tenders or come to terms on a contract. The key with an offer sheet is to target someone unhappy in their current situation who would be open to the idea, and who also meets the top-six forward criteria.
Kirill Marchenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets is an example of this, as his role and utilization with the team don’t quite fit his skillset. The Blue Jackets also brought in a new general manager, Don Waddell, so the relationship and ties are much looser than with the management group that drafted him.
Oddly enough, the most similar player to Marchenko across the league is the one and only Jeff Skinner. He’s a willing shooter who scores above-expectation and can contribute to the powerplay with his quick release. Fellow RFA Martin Necas is also a close comparison, although Marchenko carries a predictably cheaper acquisition cost. Marchenko is projected to sign a two-year deal for around $3.6 million per season, while Necas projects for eight years at a $8.8 million AAV.
Marchenko scored 23 goals and 42 points in 78 games for Columbus last season.
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Trade Market
The assumption throughout most of the offseason was that the Sabres would acquire the top-six forward they desire via trade. Instead, they traded for expected bottom-six contributors Ryan McLeod and Beck Malenstyn.
Most potential trade targets with their name in the rumor mill are still with their teams from last season, including Nikolaj Ehlers, Mitch Marner, and Trevor Zegras. Ehlers and Marner are unrestricted free agents after next season, putting importance and urgency on the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs to come up with a solution soon so they don’t lose important assets for nothing.