The Buffalo Sabres are looking to make a splash this off-season, and now it appears their biggest target will be Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson.
The 2025 NHL off-season is shaping up to be a crazy one, with some big name free agents set to hit the market, an intriguing draft class and plenty of potential trades on the way.
While talk on the Elias Pettersson trade front have been quiet as of late, after the drama the organization went through as a result of EP40 a year ago, it's no surprise that now he is reportedly a trade candidate again this summer.
In recent days, Frank Seravalli confirmed that teams are expected to check in on the availability of Elias Pettersson.
Now this evening an Eastern Conference team has been officially linked to Pettersson.
Eastern Conference Team Linked To Elias Pettersson
According to reports, Pettersson has a no-trade clause that kicks in this July, and as a result, the Canucks are re-engaging rivals in potential Pettersson trade talks, with the Buffalo Sabres being the team chasing the star centre the hardest.
With the likes of Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson leading the way in Buffalo, it makes sense that they want to land a top centre to pair with their rising stars, with their first-round pick and many, many other assets reportedly in play.
This off-season already, we've heard that the likes of Owen Power, Bowen Byram and JJ Peterka, an RFA this off-season are all in play among many others, meaning that out of any team in the NHL, it's the Sabres that could likely offer Vancouver the best package for Pettersson.
It's unclear at this point how many other teams are aggressively pursuing EP40, and after a down year amidst the drama with J.T. Miller, it may be the best time to buy on the 26-year old, with the Sabres likely to be the favourite heading into the off-season as they look to re-tool their struggling young roster.
