Buffalo Sabres: 3 Players With Expiring Contracts

With the off-season almost completed, it feels right to take a preview into next year's. In this segment, we will be looking at three players from each team who have expiring contracts. Both restricted and unrestricted free agents are eligible for discussion.

In this piece, we will be discussing the Buffalo Sabres. They have one notable RFA who they have to decide on keeping or not. The other two players are two recently acquired defensemen who are eligible to be UFAs next summer.

Victor Olofsson LW/RW (RFA): Victor Olofsson is the most notable Sabre who will be in need of a new contract next off-season. The 26-year-old winger will be a restricted free agent, so the Sabres will have some control over him if needed. However, with Buffalo tearing down their roster, it would not be surprising to see Olofsson eventually traded. If he's only willing to sign a one-year deal, he will be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent that next summer, too. In 56 games this past season, he scored 13 goals and had 32 points.

Robert Hägg D (UFA): The Sabres acquired Robert Hägg from the Philadelphia Flyers as a part of the Rasmus Ristolainen trade. With him being an unrestricted free agent next summer, he is certainly a candidate to be a rental at the deadline. In 34 games this past season, he scored two goals and had five points. However, he is capable of producing more, as he had 20 points in 82 games during the 2018-19 season with the Flyers. He also had 13 points in 49 games the season after.

Will Butcher D (UFA): Like Hägg, Will Butcher could be another rental at the deadline. The New Jersey Devils traded Will Butcher as a cap dump earlier this off-season. In 23 games last season, he scored a goal and had 11 points, so he is capable of producing on the backend. Although he has yet to replicate his 44-point rookie campaign, he was on pace for 39 points this season, had he stayed healthy and played a full 82-game schedule. He could surprise people this season after getting his much-needed change of scenery.