The Buffalo Sabres have reportedly traded for New Jersey Devils forward Wayne Simmonds in a trade that makes very little sense for the Sabres.
Everyone expected the Buffalo Sabres to be sellers at the 2020 NHL trade deadline. However, they made a bit of a shocking addition to their roster. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Sabres are expected to trade for New Jersey Devils forward Wayne Simmonds.
The return is a 2021 fifth-round pick. It becomes a fourth-round pick if Simmonds plays in at least 10 games for the Sabres and the Sabres make the playoffs.
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Simmonds has a cap hit of $5 million and will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He has 24 points this season in 61 games for the Devils after signing with them in the summer.
This trade doesn’t make any sense for the Sabres. Their postseason chances are quickly approaching zero, as they have chance a 4.4% chance of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs according to MoneyPuck. The Sabres are six points out of third place in the Atlantic Division and eight points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Simmonds isn’t going to help them too much this season. While a fifth-round pick is a small price to pay, you’re still giving up an asset for someone who’s probably not going to give you too much help. A rebuilding team like the Sabres can’t afford to make this kind of trade.
Even if the Sabres were interested in signing Simmonds to an extension, why not wait until the offseason? It’s not like he’s going to have teams beating down the door to sign him. After all, Simmonds was once one of the better power forwards in the NHL, but his production has quickly dried up.
That said, this is a very nice low-price upgrade for the Sabres. Their postseason chances are slim at best, but they aren’t done yet. Both the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs are struggling to pull away from the rest of the pack. But I still don’t like this deal for the Sabres.