Sabres Urged To Go After NY Rangers Trade Candidate Alexis Lafreniere With Proposed Deal

Could Sabres try to land Alexis Lafreniere from the Rangers?

The Buffalo Sabres offseason has so far consisted of a move to fortify the defense, with the sign-and-trade of RFA JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in return for a promising right-D in Michael Kesselring, who'll slot right into their top four.

But with the loss of the 27-goal Peterka, the top six on the offensive side of the puck is now in need of a boost. One suggested move would be to try and snag New York Rangers' trade candidate Alexis Lafreniere. The former first-overall pick (2020 NHL Draft) had a disappointing season this past year, and there's some talk the Blueshirts could be ready to move on from the winger, despite the fact that he's about to begin a seven-year extension with a $7.45 million AAV.

Michael Augello of The Hockey News is urging the Sabres to make a run at Lafreniere, for one reason because the player "has a number of traits that the Sabres undoubtedly are looking for," and another is that he does not have any trade-protection at this point in his contract, which, as Augello notes, "has been a roadblock for Adams in the past in trades."

He suggests meeting that the Rangers, even with the free agent signing of Vladislav Gavrikov, could use another defenseman.

Owen Power’s name might be floated, but it is hard to imagine that the Sabres would make that swap one-for-one, and perhaps would try to steer the Rangers towards a deal involving Bowen Byram instead.

Byram was an RFA this summer, and although his name has been in trade rumors since earlier last season, he re-signed with the Sabres on a two-year, $6.25 million bridge deal. But Buffalo is stacked on the left side of the blueline, with Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power occupying the spots in the top-four, so Bryam remains a trade candidate.

Lafreniere broke through in 2023-24 with a career-high 28-goal season and seemed to be a key core piece for the Rangers for the future. But he backslid significantly last year, dropping to just 17 goals and 45 points with a minus-13 rating. The 23-year-old was a huge disappointment, and he's become persona non grata in some circles in NYC. Mollie Walker of the New York Post was one of the prominent names urging the Blueshirts to move on from the "unimpressive" player.

Perhaps the Sabres would be happy to oblige them.