Sabres & Jets Could Pull Off Huge Offseason Trade

By the looks of it, the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres are heading in opposite directions. If Connor Hellebuyck has to say that he's not interested in staying through a rebuild, even he knows what is coming for the Jets, and that's a big retooling at the very least.

Most of the important players for the Jets have one to two years left on their deals, and one of them, Pierre-Luc Dubois, has already made it clear he doesn't want to sign long-term. With the team's inconsistencies and inability to push deep into playoffs if they even make it that far, changes are in order. The big piece that will likely be gone is Hellebuyck so that the team can get something back for him before he chooses to leave in free agency.

With one year left on his deal, there are teams that will be searching for an elite starter to help make them better. This is where the Sabres come in. The one area that stood out this season was goaltending. While having Craig Anderson, a 41-year-old, start a number of games, the team also gave Eric Comrie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Devon Levi starts.

Michael Russo and Eric Duhatschek said, "we've heard the Sabres have interest in Connor Hellebuyck. Winnipeg would want young team-controlled assets in return. This trade definitely starts with Luukkonen as Levi has to be seen as untouchable. Luukkonen is only 24 years old and would have time and opportunity to grow in Winnipeg. They would require another asset too, and the Sabres are full of them. With the forward group of the Jets likely being broken up, a young forward would be the target as well. The Sabre have Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka from their roster, but Buffalo may be more inclined to trade someone like Noah Ostlund who they just drafted since he's further away from making an impact.

These two teams could very realistically pull off a deal similar to what is being suggested here as it suits both of their needs going forward. The Sabres need a solid goalie to lead them to the playoffs while the Jets unfortunately need to go through a rebuild/retool before being competitive again.