Sabres Trade Rumors: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Could Be On Way Out of Buffalo

Whatever the future holds for Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, there's no doubt that there will be significant changes for the team this summer. He said at his season-ending press conference that he will be sitting down with owner Terry Pegula to hammer out what's ahead, and many figure that could also involve a change in Adams's role.

In the meantime, regardless of whoever the GM might be, insider Elliotte Friedman has added a very large (6-foot-5) player name to the rumor mill, as he suggested on the 32 Thoughts podcast that starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could be trade bait.

There are teams who believe that Luukkonen could be available. That maybe the Sabres are...I don't know if "down" is the right word, but maybe feel that he could have given them more this year. And I don't even know if it's fair. I mean every Sabres fan can deny it, can decide if they think that's fair or not. But there have been some whispers around the league that teams who are looking for goaltenders that he might be a guy who could be out there.

Luukkonen just completed the first season of a five-year contract with an AAV of $4.75 million, but took a step back in his performance from the previous year. He posted a career-worst .887 save percentage, along with a 3.20 goals against average. That's compared to a .910 Sv% and 2.57 GAA along with five shutouts in 2023-24, which earned him that big extension.

Regardless of the year he had this season, with an extremely thin market for goalies this summer, Luukkonen would head to near the top of the list. A list that includes pending UFAs Frederik Anderson, Jake Allen, Vitek Vanecek, and Ville Husso, along with trade candidate John Gibson.