NHL Rumors: Buffalo Sabres Looking to Add Offense

Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about the Buffalo Sabres and whether they are looking to shake things up. Pagnotta mentioned they are looking to add a scoring winger.

NHLRumors.om Transcriptions

Host: “Sometimes a team that has higher expectations and gets off to a slow start want to do something to shake things up. What about a team like the Buffalo Sabres right now, who won their division and are sitting last in the division? Are they looking to shake things up, or are they going to stay the course?”

Dave Pagnotta: “They’re staying the course while navigating cautiously, lurking in the weeds and looking at what’s available. I think they’d like to bring in a scoring winger. More than anything, they weren’t able to replace Alex Tuck. I think that’s something that they would like to certainly like to do. Still, we’ll see when that becomes a reality for them. I think it seems like, by all accounts, they’re comfortable with their goaltending, and this is another team that is comfortable with the three-prong goalie system.

Once everybody is healthy, they’ve had to battle some injuries so far in the first month of the season here. But it was a week or so ago, whatever it is, that Jarmo Kekäläinen came out on local radio in Buffalo saying that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is a big part of their future. Like (Colton) Ellis. They like the three-system that they have right now. How long is that sustainable?

Again, this is another wait-and-see situation. But from a goaltending side, they seem pretty good. I think it’s more so the offence that they’d like to address and add to after losing some pieces in the summer. They expect more out of (Zach) Benson. They expect more out of (Konsta) Helenius and some of the other young kids that they have that have done well.

They expect everybody to kind of step up. But at the same time, I think Jarmo, their GM, is looking to see if he could add another scoring winger to that roster, but that might be something that happens a little later on in the season.”

NHLRumors.com Note: The Buffalo Sabres are looking for more offence in their lineup after they did not re-sign Alex Tuch. Tuch was part of a sign-and-trade with the Washington Capitals. It was a shame they couldn’t keep a guy like Tuch, who wanted to be there. But they also lost Michael Kesselring and Bowen Byram in the summer. So the Sabres were going to take a step back. Unfortunately, the offence isn’t there this season, and they need to find someone to replace Tuch. But if the Sabres had paid, they wouldn’t be in this problem.