Sabres’ biggest remaining questions as offseason heats up

The NHL offseason has heated up quickly, with a series of blockbuster moves setting the stage for the draft this weekend and free agency next week.

General manager Jarmo Kekäläinen got the Buffalo Sabres in on the action Tuesday, when he traded Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the fourth- and 45th-overall picks and defenseman Louis Crevier. Byram, though a key cog for the 2025-26 team, didn’t intend to sign a long-term contract in Buffalo before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

“He didn’t want to negotiate; he wasn’t gonna sign with us. So, that didn’t leave us an option to do anything else with this,” Kekäläinen said Wednesday. “… We had one more year left before his free agency, and we feel like we got very good value.”

The Sabres continued Wednesday by sending Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals a week before he hit free agency. Unable to reach an agreement with the winger, Buffalo got ahead of things and received a third-round pick.

“We made it clear to him that we wanted to sign him. He was an important player for us and a good leader, all those things that we talked about very many times. But sometimes when the players have the power to choose, they choose differently,” Kekäläinen said of the 30-year-old Tuch, who promptly signed for eight years in Washington.

Those trades leave the Sabres (for the moment) with seven picks, headlined by Nos. 4 and 20 overall, in the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday at KeyBank Center.

And the Sabres didn’t let Zach Benson reach restricted free agency, signing the 21-year-old winger to a seven-year extension on Wednesday. Free agency officially opens next Wednesday, July 1, at 12 p.m.

Here are the biggest questions still facing Kekäläinen and the Sabres over the next week and the rest of the offseason.

Pick or pass?

It’s rare for reigning division champions to hold such a high draft pick; in fact, no NHL team had traded a top-five selection since 2008. Eager to improve his current roster, yet intrigued by this draft’s top prospects, Kekäläinen is keeping an open mind over these next couple days.

“I’ve told all the teams that have inquired about the No. 4 pick that we’re just gonna listen for now, take notes and see what they think is the value of No. 4,” he said “… We’ll gather that information around the league and see what the value is, and if we don’t think it’s as much as making the pick, then we make the pick.”

If dealt, the fourth pick could help acquire a top-six forward or a defenseman of Byram’s caliber. The Sabres’ 2025-26 resurgence has already led some players to remove Buffalo from their no-trade lists, agents have told Kekäläinen.

If used, No. 4 would net an 18-year-old with massive potential a few years from now. A year of scouting has assistant GM Jerry Forton and the hockey department well-versed on the top of this prospect class, despite the sudden changes in draft position.

“Whether we’re picking 2, 3, 4, 5 or 20, I think they do the list pretty diligently throughout the year, and they’re prepared for any scenario. They know this could happen,” Kekäläinen said.

Buffalo also holds the 20th pick, acquired from San Jose last week for the 27th and Michael Kesselring. Kekäläinen called it “a bit of a mutual” decision to move on from the RFA defenseman, and the resulting seven-pick jump is significant.

“I consider it high value, getting up those seven spots,” Forton told Sabres Live. “… I think there’s a very good chance at 20 we get one of our players that we have in the 13, 14, 15 range.”

Re-signing in Buffalo?

Benson’s locked up, but several Sabres are still set to become free agents on July 1, either unrestricted (free to sign anywhere) or restricted (eligible for offer sheets from other clubs, which is rare). The full list:

UFAs: Beck Malenstyn, Josh Dunne, Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn, Tanner Pearson, Trevor Kuntar, Gavin Bayreuther, Jake Leschyshyn

RFAs: Peyton Krebs, Isaac Belliveau, Zac Jones, Olivier Nadeau, Nikita Novikov

The latest from Kekäläinen on the fourth-line staple Malenstyn: “Those (talks) are ongoing, as well. We’ll definitely keep Beck Malenstyn.”

The Byram/Greenway trade freed more than $9 million in additional cap space, so Kekäläinen has some flexibility to re-sign some of these guys while making other additions via trade and free agency.

Replacing Tuch and Byram?

Asked about replacing Tuch’s first-line production, Kekäläinen reiterated his confidence in the Sabres’ young forwards – Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius and Jiri Kulich stand out – thriving in larger roles.

From a leadership perspective, absent the alternate captain Tuch and vocal Byram, the Sabres expect the likes of Benson and Josh Doan to continue growing. As Kekäläinen put it, “Those individuals showed us already in the playoffs that they’re leaders by example, and now they can take some more responsibility on.”

As for the loss of Byram, Buffalo already added one defenseman in the 6-foot-8, right-shot Crevier, who had 25 points (7+18), 95 blocks and 124 hits in his third season with the Blackhawks. The 25-year-old wasn’t just a throw-in for the Byram trade – he’s got a great shot and legitimate upside.

“I love his story. He’s a seventh-round pick, and he’s made himself into an NHL player, which talks about his character and drive,” Kekäläinen said. “We talk to people, our sources, about that. It’s one thing we always take seriously: You have skill, you have ability, but do you have character? Do you have competitiveness that we’re looking for in a Buffalo Sabre? And we came to the conclusion that he has all those values that we require in our team. That convinced us that he was an important part of this trade.”

That said, the Sabres feel either free agency or a trade involving their first-round picks can yield another, more established NHLer to bolster the blue line.

“We have a lot of ammunition to explore if there’s another trade that we can make,” the GM said. “Defensemen are not easy to find, but we’ve had some productive talks, and we’ll see where that goes.”