NHL Trade Rumors: Buffalo Sabres eyeing Jason Zucker
According to the latest NHL trade rumors from Pierre LeBrun, the Buffalo Sabres are very interested in trading for Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker.
The Buffalo Sabres have already been pretty active this offseason. They fired head coach Phil Housley and replaced him with Ralph Krueger. The Sabres managed to get their top priority Jeff Skinner taken care of, signing him to an eight-year deal. According to the latest NHL trade rumors, they aren’t done yet. The Sabres have been linked to Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.
This report comes from Pierre LeBrun. He talked about this in his latest Insider Trading segment, as well as in his latest notebook post with The Athletic. LeBrun also notes the Sabres are looking for a second-line center as well, which might put them in the running for Matt Duchene.
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Zucker is currently signed for four more years with a $5.5 million annual cap hit. However, he has a no-trade clause, which kicks in starting on July 1. So if the Wild want to trade Zucker, it will most likely be before July 1.
It’s interesting that the Sabres have two first-round picks. They’ve already traded one to the Anaheim Ducks for Brandon Montour.
The Sabres also know their second first rounder will either be 30th or 31st, depending on if the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup. Might that first rounder come into play with Zucker?
However, the Wild seem interested in a hockey trade, featuring players rather than draft picks. This also makes sense for the Sabres.
Rasmus Ristolainen is someone who the team has soured on a bit, but the Wild could be interested in him. The finances would work, as Ristolainen has a $5.4 million annual cap hit over the next three years.
Related Story. 5 Teams Who Should Trade For Zucker. light
Keep an eye on the Sabres, who could easily fit in Zucker’s cap hit and still have plenty of money to add other players. If they can shed Ristolainen’s contract, they could get in the sweepstakes for someone like Jake Gardiner, who’s the best left-handed defensemen available. One would imagine Erik Karlsson would be a pipe dream, though, and a reunion with Tyler Myers seems out of the question.
Zucker would be a nice addition to the Sabres, who need to surround their centers with better wings. He’s a proven goal scorer who’s coming off a bad year. Zucker’s just a year removed from scoring 30 goals, which is a mighty hard thing to do in today’s NHL.
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It seems like the Sabres are intent on improving a roster that didn’t get the job done last season. Though they got off to an excellent start and even managed to win 10 straight games at one point, they fell apart down the stretch and missed the postseason.