Which Sabres Prospects Could Be Traded?

The rumors of the Buffalo Sabres possibly trading JJ Peterka and Bowen Byram are well documented at this point, but whether they stick around or not, prospects are on the trade block as the core needs to be appeased and the Sabres need to win.

Elliotte Friedman reported that the Sabres are willing to deal prospects for immediate help. This could mean prospects who have yet to play in the NHL and others who have. We saw a taste of this last offseason when Buffalo traded Matthew Savoie to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ryan McLeod, but it has to be bigger than that.

The first name I would seriously look at is Devon Levi. While he could absolutely turn into a very good NHL goalie, he's struggled and been up and down between the NHL and AHL, not helping the Sabres achieve any success. The team definitely needs better goaltending than they got, and if a Linus Ullmark situation arises, Levi could be used as a part of the deal. I see John Gibson as an option to upgrade goaltending through a trade.

As far as other better prospects in the system go, the group that could help fetch a strong return include Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, Konsta Helenius, and Ryan Johnson. The latter has the most games played in the NHL with 44 and only played three games this season with the Sabres. Buffalo has more than enough defensemen to fill their roster and I also don't see room for Johnson moving forward, even if Byram is also traded.

As for the other three, they are all forwards who have 15 or less games in the NHL. Helenius has none. All would be around the value of Savoie, but if multiple are packaged, that seriously increases the price. There are players to acquire this summer, RFA or otherwise. If Buffalo is to dip into their young NHL players, Jack Quinn and Jiri Kulich will come up. The Sabres have to get creative and get better immediately or it's going to get much worse.

Photo credit: © Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images