Sabres add only one NHL player during draft

Las Vegas, Nev. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Kevyn Adams went to Las Vegas this week, hoping to make moves for some NHL players that would help the Buffalo Sabres get to the next level.

The Sabres general manager was able to make one trade with the Washington Capitals on Saturday, acquiring a player that’s hard to play against in Beck Malenstyn. However, that was the only player Buffalo could get.

To get Malenstyn, Buffalo traded away it second of two second-round picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, which was 43rd overall.

Malenstyn isn’t all the Sabres need to do, but Adams thinks the 26-year-old brings an element to their bottom-six they don’t have.

"He’s big, 6-foot-3, led their team in hits, he’s a penalty killer as well. He’s a character guy, and when he hits, he hits hard," said Adams following Saturday's second day at the NHL Draft at The Sphere. "We’ve been looking to be harder to play against, and he’s certainly someone that brings that every night."

Last year, the Rochester Americans lost in the Eastern Conference Final of the Calder Cup Playoffs to the Hershey Bears. Malenstyn led a Bears squad that was a tough, hard hitting group.

"I can tell you that Seth Appert said that in the American Hockey League, teams were scared to play against him. He was clearly someone that when he stepped on the ice, had a lot of respect and a lot of room," Adams said." Just the way he came into the National Hockey League this year, leading the team in hits (241) says something about the consistency of him, especially when you have Tom Wilson on the team."

There’s no question the Sabres overpaid with a second-round pick, but in my mind, they only slightly overpaid.

"Anytime you’re acquiring a player that is well-liked on the team, there’s a price to pay," Adams explained. "For us, it comes down to when we made the trade back at 11 to pick up the extra asset, in my mind, we were going to shop it as hard as we could to find what we were looking for in some way. You certainly make one trade with another trade in mind potentially, and it was an area of need. It was a price we thought was worth paying."

Adams also had other goals coming into the draft.

"Adding a player that we thought really fit what we were looking for was something we were hoping to do, be it a player or players," he said.

"We were aggressive last night in different ways that if it made sense, we were trying to do whatever to help the roster. That was out there as well, but teams weren’t comfortable in making the moves that we were hoping to do. So now you continue conversations into tonight, into tomorrow, on some different things we have that are still out there a little bit. And also you turn your attention quickly to free agents that we’re looking at that we think can help us."

Teams hardly ever sign restricted free agents to offer sheets, but it’s a way to build a team the general managers ignore. Adams says he's open to the idea of an offer sheet.

"Never in my mind is it something that you should rule out, but I think they’re tricky, because, typically, they’re going to get matched. What are you really accomplishing?" he said. "But if we thought it was a move we could do that would help us make our team better, we’ll do it."

The Sabres have another day to get their qualifying offers out to their restricted free agents, which also includes Malenstyn.

Monday is when NHL Free Agency begins at 12 p.m. ET. Buffalo will also start its Development Camp on Monday, where we’ll get our first look at many of the players they drafted this weekend.