What If The Sabres Didn't Continue Trading Talent?

The Buffalo Sabres have their mark all over the league, but that isn't good for them. Top players and talented pieces that have passed through Buffalo or were drafted by them are all contributing to the success of their new teams while Buffalo is on pace to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive season with eight different head coaches.

While looking back at what could be for the Sabres right now, we'll also take a deeper dive at who wouldn't be here if trades didn't happen either.

Talent Buffalo let slip away:

- Jack Eichel

- Sam Reinhart

- Linus Ullmark

- Evan Rodrigues

- Casey Mittelstadt

- Brandon Montour

- Taylor Hall

- Ryan O'Reilly

- Victor Olofsson

- Jake McCabe

- Marcus Johansson

- Evander Kane

- Nikita Zadorov

- Matthew Savoie

There are some absolute game-changers among that group and some other good NHL players, whether that be when they left Buffalo or even still. Diving even deeper, there are some players that the Sabres drafted and never played for them or draft picks traded that turned into talented players. This list of players includes:

- Brandon Hagel

- Erik Portillo

- Cole Hutson

- J.T. Compher

- Sam Dickinson

- Riley Heidt

- Mathieu Cataford

- Matias Maccelli

If these players weren't all moved, the Sabres wouldn't have Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod, Beck Malenstyn, Konsta Helenius, Jordan Greenway, Noah Ostlund, Devon Levi, or Jiri Kulich.

This is a solid group of young talent, but that hasn't gotten the Sabres anywhere. After this long of missing the playoffs, that is what the team really needs right now. They hold the record for consecutive seasons missing the playoffs by a fair margin now. The group of players they moved on from would form a playoff team while the young players who could've been would still make up a good future.