Seravalli: Buffalo may not have a choice but to trade Peterka

[creg]

some of the cirelli takes in here are bewildering, Tampa is almost certainly not trading him and I would be willing to bet that if he was offered to Buffalo straight up as a one for one for Peterka the deal would be done in a heartbeat

unbelievably useful player coming off of a career season and most of the underlying numbers highlight that he's not just on a shooting heater - he's actually generating quality chances consistently despite getting some of the toughest matchups in the league

 

[Satanphonehome]

This is my minor qualm anytime the Sabres have a player rumored to be on the trade block. This literally just happened with Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens threads at the deadline.

I realize I am about to paint with a broad brush here, and I know this isn't everyone, but in my experience, Sabres fans don't want prospects, and they don't want picks, and they don't want vets that have already played their best hockey, and they don't want to eat bad contracts just because they have cap room. Understood. But present them with a 2x champion averaging around 20 goals a year and in the Selke convo every season with term at a team-friendly value in exchange for a player who wants to leave, and it's a laugher. I just can't square it.

Gotta stick up a bit for some other Sabres fans here and say there are some in every fan base who treat these kinda threads as some kind of internet debate game they are somehow going to win.

Maybe Buffalo fans cling to their assets a little harder than some because of the PTSD of all their team’s previous mistakes?

There’s a difference between @Beerz simply valuing Peterka and Cirelli differently than you and I, and some other posters who (publicly at least) value all their guys at the extreme high end of their value range, and every potential trade target at the extreme low end of theirs.

Not a 3C in Cirelli.

Tampa does not have what id ask for.



Thompson has played center. He played wing to give kulich C experience.

Cirelli repeat?.dont buy it.

That's why I don't want him. He has a NMC that would need you be honored. That contract us vad kn a few years.

Vitelli young? No. He turns 27 this summer.

CIRRLLI is a D center but hus cap hit is higher than id like at 3C. No he isnt a 2C.

I have McLeod as a 3C in my roster plan. He gets more points if he gets PO1 time and being a top 6 sub.

Case in point?

 

[MoneyManny]

"There are 11 mistakes before me" lolololol

Yeah i follow football pretty closely and had completely forgotten about that guy's existence.

Busted so hard his team used the following year's 1OA pick for another quarterback, lolol.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Will probably end up like the Eichel trade where fans are asking for the moon for their guy and get only 1/4th of what they expected in return for their player.

 

[Canovin]

If Buffalo can sign him to 4M x 1 year and trade him at 50%, that would be incredible value especially at the deadline

 

[is the answer jesus]

Rumor had it Ottawa wanted him in the Norris trade but they couldnt make it work in time and Ottawa didnt know where their pick was going to end up. I am willing to bet he ends up in Ottawa with their 1st + going the other way. Buffalo can then use the pick to trade for a position of need.

the 21st pick in a mediocre draft doesn't move the needle at all for Buffalo. So I'd be willing to bet there's almost zero chance of that happening unless that + is a piece much more valuable than that pick.

As for the idea of Cirelli + for Peterka I get the hesitancy. We already have McLeod for the middle 6 defensive center role, so there's definitely a bit of redundancy there. Norris is also adequate defensively. Is doubling down on two defense first centerman a recipe for success? Maybe... or maybe it just turns a 23 year old top line winger into an older middle 6 center and opens a massive hole on our top line. The game is certainly more than just scoring goals, but I also am concerned that Cirelli while being an absolute stud defensively would probably be more of a 45-50 point guy here and that just won't cut it. That's why I'd prefer they target a RHD that either already is or looks extremely likely to become at least a good 2nd pairing guy. It's a much bigger hole organizationally than another defense first center.

 

[Chainshot]

This is my minor qualm anytime the Sabres have a player rumored to be on the trade block. This literally just happened with Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens threads at the deadline.

I realize I am about to paint with a broad brush here, and I know this isn't everyone, but in my experience, Sabres fans don't want prospects, and they don't want picks, and they don't want vets that have already played their best hockey, and they don't want to eat bad contracts just because they have cap room. Understood. But present them with a 2x champion averaging around 20 goals a year and in the Selke convo every season with term at a team-friendly value in exchange for a player who wants to leave, and it's a laugher. I just can't square it.

Probably because we are not all the same person?

 

[57special]

Cirelli is signed until 2030 or 2031 for $6.25 million a year. Peterka will be more expensive more likely than not.

Damn, should've checked. Cirelli's contract will be a bargain by the time it's done.

 

[atlanticobserver]

Damn, should've checked. Cirelli's contract will be a bargain by the time it's done.

It's not that much of a stretch to say that it is already a bargain.

 

[ottawagm]

Ottawa had JJ sitting there on a platter to be taken in the 2nd round and would have been a good pick to go with Stutzle as both are Germans, but they take Roby Jarventie instead ! Almost as dumb as picking Tyler Boucher at #10 in 2021 !

Could you imagine the draft if we had? Honestly overthought that one or didn't want to have friends together?

Stutzle
Sanderson
Greig
Peterka
Kleven
Merilainen (very impressive this year)

Best draft of all time?

 

[FerrisRox]

If the Leafs had an extra rhd I'd do Carlo as a basis for him but unfortunately we do not.

I think Carlo would need to be the extra piece on top of the basis, not the actual basis.

 

[JTBF81]

The reason people want Cirelli traded is mostly because the team has no flexibility and all the other major contracts are NMC loaded. On July 1, Cirelli, Hagel, Kucherov, Point, Vasilevskiy, Cernak, Guentzel, and Hedman will all basically be unmovable. The team only has so many good years left and a lot of people think that there needs to be a shakeup. That basically requires Cirelli to go somewhere else in the next 60 days or so. Couple that with the fact that the team is clearly more than a few $800k AAV replacements for 2 or 3 expiring contracts away from winning a Cup, there's no other reason to trade him. He is a great player on a terrific contract on a team that would still be fine at center down the lineup with greater needs. Frankly, he was just snakebitten in a lot of the previous years or buried down the lineup.

Except they wouldn't be fine at C without him. They have no other top 6 C's aside from Point, and none of the options on the ufa market are appealing, either in age or expected cost. That, in addition to all the other good points about Cirelli, is why he's very unlikely to be moved.

 

[Djp]

If the Leafs had an extra rhd I'd do Carlo as a basis for him but unfortunately we do not.

Carlo won't do it....he's a secondary pieces. Toronto doesn't have any primary piece

 

[Tony Romo]

Carlo won't do it....he's a secondary pieces. Toronto doesn't have any primary piece

Yep unfortunately we traded all of what could be primary pieces for Laughton and Carlo!!!

 

[DJN21]

So he’s wrong about one thing and that makes him wrong about everything? There’s not one person on this earth that hasn’t been wrong once.

Im wrong Free since 93'....

 

[DJN21]

Should Dubas add Crosby at 50% retained as well?

No because that would be stupid. The offer you've responded to was not.

 

[Jared Grayden]

No because that would be stupid. The offer you've responded to was not.

Penguins trading their unprotected 2026 1st along with Rakell for Peterka is extremely stupid for Pittsburgh as many other posters recognized. If you think that is the expected return for Peterka, prepare for disappointment.

 

[Mrfenn92]

I'd take rakell with 26 1st unprotected back from Pittsburgh along with a prospect

I’m sure you would

 

[thewookie1]

Seravelli is rarely accurate on Buffalo reports for starters.

3 things:

1. Unless we get Tkachuk, he's not being traded in the division; so all the Ottawa fans can just stop with the inane offers that include mediocre players and protected 1sts.

2. For those who wish to offer sheet him, you are likely looking at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd compensation level to even hope to get Buffalo not to match. Want to offer him 3x7mil; we may want revenge later but we can match. Desperate enough to try 1x9mil; we may take the picks.

3. Always loved Cirelli but with McLeod here already as a light version of him we really don't need him.

 

[Jared Grayden]

1. Unless we get Tkachuk, he's not being traded in the division; so all the Ottawa fans can just stop with the inane offers that include mediocre players and protected 1sts.

I'm sure Seravelli is wrong about many things, but Adams JUST made a significant player trade in division with Ottawa. Can't see how he would now refuse to do so with Peterka if his best offer came from an in division team.

 

[JadedRandom]

Cirelli is signed until 2030 or 2031 for $6.25 million a year. Peterka will be more expensive more likely than not.

Peterka will absolutely be better offensively than Cirelli for the remainder of that deal, but Cirelli is amongst the league's best defensive centers and would be a major upgrade at the center-ice position for the Sabres, where they have a massive hole.

Trading Peterka for Cirelli+ would allow Buffalo to potentially put Thompson on the wing if they want to, which would make sense to me as I'd say that Thompson's been better at that position last season than at center.

Adding Cirelli to their team could also help them insulate their center depth and rising guys like Kulich for the foreseeable future, potentially aiding in development and also providing very good 5-on-5 defense and penalty-killing to a team that hasn't had many stalwarts in that sense for a while.

Peterka is one of the few Sabres wingers that goes to the net, grinds, and battles hard on the corners so I understand why they'd be loathe to trade him, but the Sabres need more talent/depth at the center-ice position and mostly on right D too so maybe Peterka'd be expendable for a player that helps fill those same needs.

Moreso if the Sabres' management consider that extending Peterka to the $8M-$9.5M on a multi-year deal contract that Peterka is likely to get could severely handcuff them from protecting other key RFAs that they have in Byram and Quinn.

 

[thewookie1]

I'm sure Seravelli is wrong about many things, but Adams JUST made a significant player trade in division with Ottawa. Can't see how he would now refuse to do so with Peterka if his best offer came from an in division team.

Well besides Tkachuk there isn't anything else worth giving you guys a great scorer who has chemistry with your center.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I was just about to post that Cirelli and Cernak are two pieces that should get Buffalo’s attention in a Peterka offer.

I wouldn’t get too bogged down on the Sabre centre situation.

Management has consistently talked about being happy with having multiple pieces who can play centre and wing. Thompson, Kulich, Krebs and McLeod can all play wing comfortably.

What’s more relevant is their desire to add players who are structured an defensively responsible, and Cirelli is exactly that. Buffalo will take a hit on offence to add defence.

Buffalo really has no need for Howard given their pipeline, but given their love for USNDTP and Tampa’s roster realities, he’s a player they’d probably take as a sweetener.

Or.....or, and hear me out here.

IF Cirelli is available, and I'm not convinced a 27 year old Selke nominee is available that seems like a bad idea by Tampa.

But IF Cirelli is available why not Keep Peterka and build an offer around something else else like.....hmmmm I don't know, maybe the 9th overall pick?

Maybe actually make an effort to ADD a good player and actually at least TRY to get better.

Would it be enough? Honestly probably not because Toronto Tampa Florida and Ottawa exist in the Atlantic and Montreal is cooking.

Then you got Washington, NJ, Carolina and the NYR in the Metro.

But it would at least be an effort, and maybe it does work.

Look at Ottawa, when they actually tried and did something it worked and they made the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Now they have hope.

 

[TkachukNorris79]

Isn't JJ one of Stützle's best friends?

Dylan Cozens, 2026 BUF 2nd and the UFA rights to Dennis Gilbert for Peterka?

 

[CowbellConray]

Or.....or, and hear me out here.

IF Cirelli is available, and I'm not convinced a 27 year old Selke nominee is available that seems like a bad idea by Tampa.

But IF Cirelli is available why not Keep Peterka and build an offer around something else else like.....hmmmm I don't know, maybe the 9th overall pick?

Maybe actually make an effort to ADD a good player and actually at least TRY to get better.

Would it be enough? Honestly probably not because Toronto Tampa Florida and Ottawa exist in the Atlantic and Montreal is cooking.

Then you got Washington, NJ, Carolina and the NYR in the Metro.

But it would at least be an effort, and maybe it does work.

Look at Ottawa, when they actually tried and did something it worked and they made the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Now they have hope.

I don’t think Tampa will deal Cirelli for a package based around picks. Most teams right with decent center spines are trying to compete. 9th overall does very little for them.

Tampa would require 1-2 legit NHL players coming back in a trade for Cirelli.

When it comes to the Atlantic - I’m not sold on Montreal or Ottawa as consistent playoff teams, and Tampa and Toronto have legit question marks after their postseasons. I don’t think the Sabres make the playoffs this year, but they need to show they are on the upswing, which they may be able to do