Canucks should try to make a trade with the Sabres

The Vancouver Canucks should see if they can make a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, who made sweeping changes everywhere this week.

Vancouver Canucks fans who are frustrated with the operations of the front office and ownership should take a look at the Buffalo Sabres.

On Tuesday, the Sabres fired general manager Jason Botterill, assistant general managers Steve Greeley and Randy Sexton, several team scouts plus Rochester Americans (the Sabres’ AHL affiliate) head coach Chris Taylor and assistants Toby Petersen and Gord Dineen.

The Canuck fans who still aren’t impressed with the work of general manager Jim Benning have to at least be thankful that there’s some stability in the organization. Travis Green is only the second head coach under Benning. The Sabres, meanwhile, are on their sixth head coach and now their fourth GM since 2013.

Vancouver also gets to play for the Stanley Cup in 2020. The Sabres have now missed the postseason in nine consecutive years, the longest active NHL drought.

With the Sabres now once again changing up the organizational philosophy and direction, Benning should take advantage and see if he can make a deal with the desperate Atlantic Division club once the offseason begins (whenever that will be).

The Sabres have some skaters that could help the Canucks, and both clubs have some players that they would probably prefer to unload. This is why Buffalo is an intriguing trade partner for Vancouver.

Maybe the Sabres wish to move out the final year of Marcus Johansson‘s deal. He had nine goals and 30 points for Buffalo, which isn’t enough to justify a $4.5 million cap hit. Perhaps the Canucks could look to acquire the smooth-skating and versatile forward in exchange for one of their bottom-six forwards, such as Brandon Sutter (one year left with a smaller cap hit of $4.375 million), Jay Beagle or Antoine Roussel?

The latter two are renowned locker room leaders, and the rebuilding Sabres might be keen to take on one of those players while giving Johansson a fresh start.

Chris Tanev and Oscar Fantenberg are pending UFAs, and Troy Stecher is a pending RFA. If the Canucks want to acquire another top-four defenceman, they could see if the Sabres are interested in dealing Rasmus Ristolainen — who’s been mentioned frequently in trade rumours — or Colin Miller.

Ristolainen and Miller are both signed through 2021-22 with cap hits of $5.4 million and $3.875 million, respectively. Don’t forget that Alexander Edler and Jordie Benn are also UFAs after the 2020-21 campaign, so acquiring Ristolainen or Miller to shore up a vacant spot on the blue line would be a wise move on Benning’s end.

Surely, the Sabres have to be open for business following another dismal season which will once again include a new front office. And if the Canucks decide they have to make some roster changes following the 2019-20 season (assuming it plays out), they should definitely try to trade with new GM Kevyn Adams and the Sabres.