Inside the NHL: What will Jarmo be up to at deadline? It's tweaks over changes
Instead of big moves needed, Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen simply needs to make tweaks at the trade deadline, Mike Harrington says. When you're team is a rumbling wagon − 24-5-2 in the last 31 games − there's no need to fix what isn't broken.
Sabres defenseman Zach Metsa, left, celebrates his goal against the Lightning with left wing Jason Zucker
during Saturday's game in Tampa, Fla. Chris O'Meara, Associated Press
Welcome to Trade Deadline Week. In Jarmo Kekalainen, all Sabres fans trust.
But this is not the deadline week the fans or Kekalainen envisioned when he took over in December. Instead of big moves needed, Kekalainen simply needs to make tweaks. When your team is a rumbling wagon − 24-5-2 in the last 31 games − there's no need to fix what isn't broken.
The Sabres might be interested in another forward, especially one who can offer an added look on the power play. But it seems like the fan narrative of a "top-six forward" is finally petering out, since the club is sixth in the NHL in goals.
Jarmo Kekalainen is introduced as the new general manager of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 16.
Derek Gee, Buffalo News
Pretty much everybody in the free world knows what the Sabres must get is help defensively. Get a right shot for the third pair. Michael Kesselring has had an injury-plagued season and seemingly gets banged up twice a night these days. Zach Metsa has done yeoman's work on the third pair but he's small (5-foot-9, 198 pounds) and is a rookie.
Choices like Chicago's Connor Murphy, Winnipeg's Logan Stanley or Calgary's Zach Whitecloud would seem to be the kind of players than can be beneficial for Kekalainen to acquire.
While Metsa seems best suited to be the No. 7 guy on the blue line, you have to give it up to him for the way he's rung up some incredible numbers.
Metsa had his first career multiple-point game Saturday at Tampa Bay with a goal and an assist that added to these incredible totals at 5 on 5: The Sabres have outscored opponents, 18-2, with Metsa on the ice as they're on a quite a bender on his shifts. Shooters are scoring on 19% of their shots and Buffalo goalies have rung up an astounding .985 save percentage with him on the ice.
For now at least, we won't get a window into Kekalainen's mind. Through a team spokesperson, the new GM declined an interview request from The Buffalo News and other outlets last week and indicated he had nothing to offer ahead of the deadline on his thought process or any update on Alex Tuch's potential contract extension.
Like all GMs, we'll hear from Kekalainen at some point Friday after the 3 p.m. deadline passes.
The Sabres should be much calmer this time. The players were on pins and needles last March, and it was an emotional departure from their hotel in Fort Lauderdale when Dylan Cozens and Dennis Gilbert departed for Ottawa in the deal for Josh Norris.
It's possible somebody could be dealt off this roster, but only because Kekalainen is looking to improve the team's depth for its playoff run.
Asking myself key questions about the deadline:
1. Forwards: Does the fire sale erupt in St. Louis with big names such as Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou or Brayden Schenn? What does Calgary do with Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman? Does Nashville stand pat with Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly? What about Vancouver with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk? It feels like Toronto is dealing Bobby McMann.
2. Defense: Justin Faulk of the Blues is the real prize, at a cap hit of $6.5 million through next season and holding a 15-team no-trade list. Doesn't seem like the Sabres can get involved with him, and he might have them on his no-trade list anyway. Old friend Rasmus Ristolainen of Philadelphia may be finding a new home just as he gets past 800 career NHL games while still out of the playoffs. With reality striking in Toronto, Oliver Ekman-Larsson sure seems like he can help a lot of teams.
3. Goaltending: Does Florida deal Sergei Bobrovsky? And what does St. Louis do about Jordan Binnington? The Sabres aren't going to want to see either potential free agent land in Montreal.
4. General managers: Why would the Leafs let Brad Treliving do their selling if he's not going to be around next season? Same for the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald. Is Minnesota's Bill Guerin hell-bent on an Olympic reunion with Rangers center Vincent Trocheck? Now that he pulled out the overdue sacking of coach Jim Hiller on Sunday, should Kings GM Ken Holland keep looking to deal like he did in getting Artemi Panarin?
Playoff odds
The Sabres were at 88.4% to make the playoffs on Sunday, as per Moneypuck.com. The site had them at 36.9% to make the second round, 14.6% to make the East final, 6.1% to make the Stanley Cup Final and 2.6% to win the Cup (the favorite is Tampa Bay at 12.8%).This is heady stuff indeed for a franchise that hasn't made the postseason in an NHL-record 14 straight seasons. It appears there's a very good chance the three longest current droughts are all going to end in 2026.
The Sabres' dry spell dates to their loss to Philadelphia in Game 7 in 2011. Detroit's last postseason was in 2016, when it lost to Tampa Bay in five games. The Wings had been in every playoff year from 1991-2016. It's been since 2017 for Anaheim, and the Ducks look poised to break through in the top three of the weak Pacific Division.
The Sabres are in the top two of their division for the first time since the final days of the 2009-10 season, when they won the Northeast title.
Sabres' value over $1.3 billion
The Sabres landed as the fourth-least expensive valued team in the NHL in the recent Sportico franchise rankings, with a value of $1.36 billion, ahead of only Ottawa, Columbus and Winnipeg. Terry Pegula paid only $189 million for the club in 2011, so it has appreciated handsomely in value even through year-to-year financial losses largely due to the playoff drought.The top team in the NHL is Toronto at $4.25 billion, but that still puts them at No. 61 overall and behind every team in the NFL and all but six in the NBA. The Leafs are followed by the New York Rangers ($3.65 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($3.3 billion), Boston Bruins ($3 billion) and Los Angeles Kings ($2.96 billion).
The top five teams overall were the Dallas Cowboys ($12.8 billion), Golden State Warriors ($11.33 billion), Los Angeles Rams ($10.43 billion), New York Giants ($10.25 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($10 billion). I was mildly surprised to see the Los Angeles Dodgers only at No. 14 on the list with a tops-in-MLB-value of $7.73 billion.
Numbers games
- Saturday's win was Lindy Ruff's 699th for the Sabres, counting the combined number of the regular season and playoffs. The puts him one ahead of Tampa Bay counterpart Jon Cooper on the quest to 700. The all-time leader is Al Arbour of the New York Islanders at 859.
- Ruff has 935 regular-season wins in 1,916 games, so he can get to 2,000 games and have an outside shot at 1,000 wins next season (Scotty Bowman, Joel Quennville). Provided, of course, he signs a new contract with the Sabres. You would assume that will be the case.
- Ruff would join Bowman and Florida's Paul Maurice as the only coaches to get to 2,000. Maurice is 11 shy and will reach the milestone this month.
- Without any fanfare, Ruff got to 1,000 combined victories when the Sabres blanked the New York Islanders, 5-0, on Jan. 24 in UBS Arena.
- The goals by Metsa and Dahlin in Saturday's game gave the Sabres 41 from their defense − equaling their total from all of last season.