Buffalo Sabres

In the offseason, the main goals for the Sabres were to try to add a top line centerman, a top 4 dman and a better rated backup goaltender.  To be able to accomplish those goals, it was obvious that the Sabres would need to move some salary as the current payroll was really close to the cap ceiling.  The plan was also to move some young guys as the projected payroll for the 2015-16 season would have been over 80M.  Since a minimum of 9 prospects were projected to be activated for the 2015-16 season, moving guys from the current roster would also allow to free up some roster spots for next year.

With their first move of the offseason, the Sabres were able cleared up 3.7M of cap space by moving Matt Hackett.  A week later, the Sabres got the defenceman they were looking for when they made a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrej Sekera.  Sekera is great defensively, has good passing skills and also brings experience to the lineup.  He was one of the main target for the Sabres early in the offseason since he had a decent cap hit for the upcoming season plus the contract was front loaded.

Mid-July, the Sabres learned that GM LeBlanc of the Colorado Avalanche was looking to make some moves.  It did not take a long time for both GMs to agree on a deal that sent Dominic Moore to Buffalo.  Moore has a cap hit under 1M and can play both C & LW.  He brings experience, checking and defensive skills to the 4th line.  Adding depth to the 4th line was not planned but still happy about it.

After that trade, the Sabres started to look around the league for a better rated backup goaltender.  A few goaltenders were targeted but it was not possible to come to an agreement with any team to get one of them.  On draft day, the Sabres were finally able to get one of those guys by moving their only remaining 2014 draft pick, a 2nd rounder, to the Ottawa Senators in a deal for Alex Stalock.  Stalock is rated decently and carry a cap hit under 1M which was mandatory for the Sabres.

Now that two of the main three goals were accomplished, it was now time to go after a top line centerman, which was obviously the bigger task.  After trade talks with a lot of teams, the Sabres traded for Patrice Bergeron by moving a huge package to the Winnipeg Jets.  The Sabres paid the price but Bergeron brings the whole package and was exactly what the Sabres were looking for to center the first line.

With all those tasks done, the Sabres did not stop there.  First, they traded for depth dman Nate Guenin, then swapped Pascal Dupuis for Chris Kelly in a move to clear up some cap space, then traded for top 6 RW Thomas Vanek.  The move for Vanek was unexpected but it is a great addition for the Sabres.  Vanek has great scoring & passing skills and also brings experience and penalty shot skills.  In the deal for Vanek, Chris Kelly and John Mitchell have also been swapped for salary reasons.

The Sabres have been really busy in the offseason but are pretty happy with the new additions to the lineup and are ready to compete for another season.

Good luck to all GMs!