Sabres acquire Timmins, Belliveau from Penguins

The Buffalo Sabres have acquired defensemen Conor Timmins and Isaac Belliveau in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft (39th overall) and defenseman Connor Clifton.

Timmins, 26, had 15 points (3+12) in 68 games last season with Toronto and Pittsburgh. The 6-foot-3, 213-pound defenseman is the second right shot added to the roster via trade in the past week, following the addition of Michael Kesselring from Utah on Thursday. (The Sabres also used their first-round draft pick on a right-shot defenseman in Radim Mrtka.)

During Timmins' 5-on-5 ice time in 2024-25, his teams outscored their opponents 39-30 and held advantages in expected goals (52.2%), shot attempts (51.6%) and scoring chances (51.9%), according to Natural Stat Trick.

Timmins averaged 18:43 in ice time – well above his career average of 15:46 – in 17 games following a March trade to Pittsburgh. He had seven points (1+6) in that span and the Penguins owned a 57-percent share of shot attempts with him on the ice at 5-on-5.

A native of of St. Catharines, Ont. – about 30 miles north of Buffalo – Timmins was a second-round draft pick (32nd overall) by Colorado in 2017. He’s played 159 NHL games spanning six seasons with Colorado, Arizona, Toronto and Pittsburgh.

Belliveau, 22, split last season between Pittsburgh’s AHL and ECHL affiliates. The 2021 fifth-round pick has seven points (1+6) in 24 career AHL games.