Sabres, Blues, and a Deal That Almost Happened?

Hockey gossip doesn’t get much juicier than this. Elliotte Friedman dropped some notes on the FAN Hockey Show about a potential blockbuster between the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues, and, well… it sounds like it was real, even if it never fully landed.

The Sabres Were Looking at Both Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko

Right now, there seems to be a deal in the works for Colton Parayko, separate from the Thomas chatter, that hinges on whether he’ll waive his no-trade clause. However, according to Friedman, Buffalo was apparently poking around for both Robert Thomas and Parayko.

Friedman’s first reaction? “It kind of came out of nowhere.” Most of the chatter recently had been swirling around Detroit, Montreal, and Utah. But there was silence on Buffalo and St. Louis. Still, Friedman insists the Sabres went pretty far down the road in trying to pull off a big deal.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Trades aren’t just about agreeing on numbers and names — you need the players to waive any no-trade clauses. Friedman says some Blues players have already been asked to approve trades to other destinations, and some said no. He wasn’t sure if Thomas or Parayko had been formally asked yet. But he heard the talks included both, with Buffalo looking to throw in some of their prospects from Rochester to sweeten the pot. Friedman described it as a “big, big deal.”