Sabres Rumors: Erik Johnson Gaining Trade Interest

Despite finally snapping their losing streak, the Buffalo Sabres are still pretty far out of a playoff spot with more games played. The team is 11-14-2 and sits third last in the Eastern Conference. With the scoring way down from where it was last season and the goaltending being inconsistent, it will be a tough road back to climb into a playoff spot.

That being said, the Sabres have to think about later this season and who could be a trade candidate if they can't go on an impressive run and get into playoff contention. One veteran in particular on the back-end is going to get trade interest, and that's Erik Johnson. The Sabres have a young and talented defense core and the team brought in Johnson as a free agent to provide some leadership and experience to that group.

Johnson hasn't exactly been amazing and he is focused only on defense, with just two goals and no assists in 24 games this season. He has been the third pairing defenseman alongside Connor Clifton, but there are other defenders fighting for time as well. While Johnson is still around, he takes time away from Jacob Bryson, Henri Jokiharju, and Ryan Johnson. As a free agent at the end of the season and with the Sabres able to retain salary, Erik Johnson is a prime candidate to be moved. But don't expect it to be for anything higher than a fourth rounder unless he really picks up his play defensively and gets a lot of interest.