Sabres day before the draft

We've already got deals and there's more about the yet to be bought out Jeff Skinner

The view of Las Vegas from the air while descending for landing (Photo: Joe Yerdon)

LAS VEGAS — The day before the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres are already getting busy…just not in the way everyone was expecting just yet.

The Sabres traded the No. 11 pick to the San Jose Sharks and acquired the Sharks No. 14 pick as well as the 42nd pick of the draft, a second rounder.

As far as pick swaps go at the draft, this trade checks all the boxes for it to make sense. The Sharks wanted to get their second pick of the first round to be a little bit higher and to do that it cost them a second later pick.

“We really liked the group of players we see ourselves potentially targeting at 14, we pick up an extra asset which is good value at pick 42,” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said on Thursday. “And then that's certainly something that we'll talk about. We're actively shopping around to look and see if there's a deal to make to help our roster better with pick 42, so this just gives us a little bit more ammunition.”

Translation: Adams has a few pots cooking and adding another second-round pick is the kind of grease that helps get the wheels in motion for a trade to happen. If you’re hoping that would be a trade that would help move Jeff Skinner out of Buffalo, we’ve got some bad news for you.

Adams was asked if there’s an appetite from Skinner and his agents to waive his no-move clause at all, his response was to the point.

“No, there's been honest communication, but no indication that's something that they're willing to look at,” Adams said. “But all you can do is just have honest conversations and explain certain situations that could be out there, and we've done that. But yeah, I wouldn't say there's been any sort of traction or movement.”

Attacking the next couple days and the weeks to come for the offseason is not going to be easy, but it needs to be done aggressively.