The Florida Panthers will be active in free agency to try and acquire defensive aid along with another forward that fits into their top six. Before signing free agents though, the Panthers should look to the trade market first.
We'll examine each team throughout the NHL and surmise whether or not there's value in a trade for both clubs. Let's start at the bottom of the standings and move up.
Buffalo Sabres: (25-45-12 62 points)
Draft picks owned: 1st round (#1), 2nd round (#32), 4th round (#94 & #115), 5th round (#125), 6th round (#156), 7th round (#187)
UFA's: Benoit Pouliot (LW), Jordan Nolan (C, LW, RW), Jacob Josefson (C, LW), Josh Gorges (D), Justin Falk (D), Chad Johnson (G)
RFA's: Sam Reinhart (RW, C), Scott Wilson (LW), Victor Antipin (D), Robin Lehner (G)
The Buffalo Sabres have needs for every position outside of their top two centers in Ryan O'Reilly and Jack Eichel. The odds went in the Sabres favor after winning the Draft Lottery. They will cash in their token for cornerstone defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Rumors of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen have cropped up since Buffalo will draft Dahlin, but it seems odd for a team to trade from a position of weakness. Most likely, the upstate New York team will look to deal a forward. With the emergence of Casey Mittelstadt, Sam Reinhart could be the perfect piece to use to shore up the back-end or bring about more stability to a shaky forward group.
Reinhart was the Sabres second overall pick in 2014, directly following Florida's first overall pick Aaron Ekblad. Drafted as a center but shifted to the right wing, the 22 year-old Vancouver native had a career year with 25 goals and 50 points. His possession numbers were a personal best with a Corsi for of 52.3%. Some will look to his -24 as a signal that he struggled defensively, however, his PDO (combined shooting and save percentage) was 96.7. To give perspective, the Sabres as a team had the worst PDO in the league at 98.0.
Despite finding some individual success, Sam Reinhart does not fit the current Buffalo Sabres make-up. Reinhart does have good value though, and he won't be dealt for insignificant assets. So what could the Panthers use to entice such a trade?
First off, there's no reason to assume that Panthers 2016 second round pick winger Adam Mascherin couldn't be included in any deal they make. Even though he has publicly stated he won't sign with Florida and will just re-enter the draft, the prospects of playing earlier and with Eichel would be intriguing.
Mackenzie Weegar had a solid rookie season and would be able to step into Buffalo's top six defensive group immediately. He'd give them flexibility to move out one of Zach Bogosian, Marco Scandella and refresh their back-end.
There's also Florida Panthers center Nick Bjugstad. He can play center and the wing and would be a significant upgrade over Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons in the third line center position. He could also play alongside Eichel or Mittelstadt since the left side is severely lacking the Sabres.
To Florida Panthers
Sam Reinhart
To Buffalo Sabres
Nick Bjugstad or MacKenzie Weegar
Adam Mascherin
3rd round pick in 2019 or Arizona's 2nd round pick in 2018 (with Weegar)
Seeing as the Sabres desperately need an influx of new players who haven't been drowned by losses, this trade would be incredibly beneficial to both teams. Florida would increase their overall team speed and has a good crop of young players so can afford to give up high draft picks.
These two teams would be good trading partners, although Buffalo may look to lock up Reinhart as it would be hard to see a second overall pick leave after a career year. Acquiring Rasmus Dahlin gives Buffalo another year of re-building time but they're going to have to begin to overturn some of their roster and refresh.
Tune in tomorrow for to examine the next trading partner in the Ottawa Senators.
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