Buffalo Sabres' Worst Trade Of The Past Year

The Buffalo Sabres made a number of lesser deals over the past year, but two stand as the leading candidates as the worst. Buffalo is a young team and have a lot of players and prospects vying for a place in the NHL. In this case, that means they have either made or will have to make decisions on certain players and move on from them since they don't all fit.

In the case of the two worst trades in question, there's the trade that sent Rasmus Asplund to the Nashville Predators for a 2025 seventh round pick or the trade that sent Erik Portillo to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2023 third round pick.

Asplund didn't really fit on the Sabres despite his strong start to the 2021-22 season. He is a former high second round pick that is now 25 years old and had four goals and 10 points in 11 games to start last season before he was bumped down in the lineup. I think that is the best we will see from him in the NHL and what happens when he is put in the right situation with a good opportunity, I don't think his ceiling is above a third liner. A seventh round pick is a little weak of a return considering he's also a RFA at the end of the season and on a cheap cap hit.

Portillo was one of the many Sabres' highly touted goaltending prospects that is in his third year at the University of Michigan. He had an incredible first two seasons for that team until his stats regressed this season. The Sabres made an early decision to move on from him because of this, but still got a third round pick. This is one we'll have to wait for as he could turn out great, or not good at all. This is why the trade to send away Asplund is the worst for the Sabres in the past year.