3 Remaining Free Agents The Sabers Should Target – Hockey Writers – Buffalo Sabers

The Buffalo Sabers have yet to do much in any real way during the free agency process to get going this offseason. With little movement and little depth they still need to rotate the top half of their NHL roster, and find some firepower up front if they can. With a number of free agents left on the board to fill these needs, they have some great options to choose from.

Eeli Tolvanen – Winger

The Sabers have established themselves as a quick team that can put pucks in the net 5-on-5, but they still need a lot of help in the power play department. A player who could really help them with that would be Eeli Tolvanen. He’s shown good skills as a third-string player who can score, but he’s also shown to be a serious power-play threat.

With Alex Tuch traded to the Washington Capitals, the Sabers will need a way to replace the production they had, or improve on it in some way. Tolvanen scored 5 power play goals and accumulated 14 power play points in his 78 games with the Seattle Kraken last season. It would be a perfect replacement for the first or second power play units, and it could be a cheap and short deal for the Sabres.

Anthony Mantha – Winger

If the Sabers wanted to make a big swing during free agency, they couldn’t approach Anthony Mantha. He may be the most expensive of the three players on this list, but he also brings some great recent success with him that will improve their all-around score. Having had a breakout year in all major scoring metrics (33 goals, 31 assists, 64 points, 13 power play points) he could be a credible scoring threat for the Sabers to add.

After playing for a decent contract with the Penguins for one season ($4.5-Million for one year) he has to pay less. The Sabers have about $11-million in cap space right now, so they can buy out a one-year deal to use him as a stopgap until their hopes fade. He might cost somewhere in the $6-million range if they can get a one-year deal, but that would be pretty cool.

Patrik Laine – Winger

Going into free agency, I expected some random team to take a flier on Patrik Laine. He is a 40-goal player who has been very unlucky over the years due to injuries. With most of the team apparently avoiding signing him for now, the Sabers have a good chance to swoop in and re-sign him on the cheap.

His recent seasons may have been plagued by injuries (only 75 games played in the last three seasons) but there is still plenty of talent there; not to mention Laine has been improving on the power play. If he’s healthy, he’s a scoring threat that could put the Sabers up 20-30 goals if used correctly. If he can’t stay healthy, they’ll spend $1-million or less to sign him to a “prove it” deal before sending him back to free agency, or keep him in a trade.

All three of these players will provide the Sabers with low risk, high reward playmaking and scoring. They desperately need to find proven scoring talent on their roster, because if they’re going to rely on the pure development of Jiri Kulich after his medical issues, Noah Ostlund after a decent first NHL season, or Konsta Helenius after his big playoffs and international games, they might have a hard time down the line.