Keeping this paragraph as a starting point if this is your first time reading this series: We will be continuing our journey through this series looking at one team at a time to act as a trade partner. Please keep in mind this should not be viewed in the same way as a comprehensive GM for a day type of post where we are looking to completely overhaul the team in one fell swoop. Each article will “reset” the Sabres roster, so don’t be surprised to see the same players, prospects, and picks used repeatedly in various trade offers.
The next trade partner we’ll be focusing on is the Carolina Hurricanes. On a surprising note, the Sabres just beat Carolina in rare fashion given prior to their most recent game they had lost to the Canes 16 out of 19 times. In this writer’s humble opinion, Carolina represents a strong model on how to build a continuously successful team that is able to contend year after year. Coaching may play a significant factor here when Rod Brind’Amour is the one behind the bench. Each player understands the expectations this coach has, but credit to the GM and quality of players brought or drafted here on reasonable or better contracts.
As usual I will be avoiding players with a full NMC clause and only look to the players with no clauses or modified trade clauses, with the hope & expectation it would be waived for the purpose of this hypothetical trade. Before diving into it – I will be avoiding Martin Necas, for likely obvious reasons… you don’t want to play in Buffalo, we’ll look elsewhere and find players that want to be here.
To Buffalo: Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis
To Carolina: Tage Thompson, John-Jason Peterka, Sam Lafferty, and a 2025 2nd round pick
Now here is a trade with some serious talent going both ways. I would certainly classify this as a blockbuster deal between the two teams. In my opinion is it highly debatable who would be the best player in this deal. We have 3 former 1st round picks in Thompson (26th), Svechnikov (2nd), and Jarvis (13th) – with JJ Peterka being a very early 2nd round pick that the Sabres traded up to be able to draft. Carolina’s player were drafted earlier, but Tage did have a major statistical year that eclipses what Andrei or Seth have ever been able to do in a single regular season.
Why this deal makes sense for the Hurricanes – Thompson is a bit of a unicorn in the hockey world with physical abilities like his shot, reach, and puck-handling abilities at his stature. He also has shown the potential to reach 50+ goals in a season when firing on are cylinders, and speaking of firing, he happens to own the hardest shot in the entire league. Consistency is the biggest thing holding Thompson back, and if there was a short list of coaches in the league that could ensure he brought his “A” game on a regular basis, Brind’Amour would be on that list. There are games where Thompson looks like the best player on the ice, and others where he is largely a non-factor. Imagine a 1-2 punch of Aho and Thompson down the middle, and the match-up nightmares opposing teams would have to deal with on a regular basis.
Peterka also offers a lot of value, and would be someone that I feel would fit into the Hurricanes style of play. He has a shoot first mentality, above average skating, and plays his best when on his toes while the team maintains possession. Additionally, Peterka is still on his ELC, and would offer the Hurricanes some breathing room from the top of the cap which is where they currently sit at. He may not quite be a regular top line contributor yet, but potential is there and has established himself as an effective 2nd line scoring threat.
Sam Lafferty doesn’t hold a ton of value, but does play with pace and straight line speed. He could be looked at as a 4th line center, or even a depth piece for a long playoff run. The Sabres needed to include a player like Lafferty to ensure they would be under the cap when taking on both contracts of Svechnikov and Jarvis, even with Thompson’s cap hit going back the other way. The second round pick also holds some decent value, and potentially more so to the Hurricanes as they have a knack for hitting on later picks in the draft outside of the first round.
By committing to this trade the Buffalo Sabres would send shockwaves throughout the team, highlighting that even their best forward could be traded if it benefitted the team as a whole. In this trade after acquiring both Svechnikov and Jarvis, I would feel confident in saying that these two new players would now be the top two forwards on the team. The only player that may come close (currently) would be Alex Tuch.
Svechnikov was drafted directly after Rasmus Dahlin, and was the first player in that draft year to reach 300 points – I would still take Dahlin over him in a re-draft, but there is a ton of offensive talent there. The big Russian (6’3 199lbs) has an extreme amount of creativity, and lets just say there would be a good chance of him being the first Sabres player to pull off an in-game Michigan style goal against an opposing team. The contract value for both Svechnikov and Jarvis are quite close in AAV to Thompson’s and each player has proven they can perform both in the regular season and playoffs.
Seth Jarvis does not have the size that Svechnikov brings, but brings tenacity and is not afraid to go to the front of the net. A player I would like to highlight comes from yesterday’s game where he caught up to Benson on a potential breakaway and stripped away the puck before Benson could get a shot off. Jarvis has a good shot and even better play-making abilities, pairing him with shooters like Svechnikov or even Jack Quinn could prove very fruitful. An interesting note, not without debate, is that Jarvis was selected to the Four Nations tournament to play for team Canada, while Thompson is considered one of the biggest snubs to be missing from the team USA roster.
Both Jarvis and Svechnikov are plus players, and that statement applies to the regular season and the playoffs. This type of trade may not do much in the way of impacting the young team age that the Sabres currently have, however more playoff hockey experience would be brought to the team from a culture of sustained winning.
Each of the four primary players included in this deal ooze potential and skill, would this shake-up help to turn things around for Buffalo? Should Jarvis and Svechnikov be placed on the same line, or broken up to spread the scoring around? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and how close this is in value to both teams.
Thanks as always – Go Sabres!