Early Trading: Are more shakeups imminent for the Sabres?

Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston to discuss the Sabres’ plans after trading J.J. Peterka to the Mammoth, an update on John Tavares’ negotiations with the Maple Leafs, Dallas’ recent off-season moves, and more on the early edition of Insider Trading.

Gino Reda: It’s Insider Trading, the early edition, with Chris Johnston.

It’s a busy time. We’re a day away from the Buffalo Sabres trading their second leading scorer and pending restricted free agent J.J. Peterka to Utah. It wasn’t ideal for the Sabres, but it was pretty clear he wanted out.

What’s the fallout on that and what’s next for the Sabres?

Chris Johnston: This isn’t a situation where Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams can put up his feet and say, “job done.”  He’s got another important decision pending and that’s defenceman Bowen Byram.

Like Peterka, he is a restricted free agent and needs a new contract and ultimately, likely needs a new place to play because he’s blocked on the left side of the Sabres blueline. There is plenty of interest in this player, with as many as eight teams in touch with the Sabres.

What’s interesting is the deal with Peterka might open up some new possibilities. One thing Buffalo had been looking for was getting a right-shot defenceman, which they got that in Michael Kesselring in the deal with Utah.

That’s left a couple of teams out there that like Byram, but didn’t have the right piece offer in terms of a right-shot defenceman, and were hoping to find something to get done.

I think that Byram is the next piece of business in Buffalo. He’s a big name coming off a great season and if the Sabres are able to consummate a deal for him, you can expect it to be one that includes multiple pieces.

Reda: On to the John Tavares update. The Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to figure out what to do with him. He was second on the team with 38 goals last season, so they do want his offence.

He wants to stay and will probably take a bit of a hometown haircut. But he’s going to be 35 years old before the start of next season so trying to find the right term and number is not easy.

So, what’s the latest on that?

Johnston: It’s all true and as of Thursday morning the word on this one is “inching along.”

I think it’s interesting because it does tell us that some progress is being made, albeit slow, on a player that I still believe will remain with the Maple Leafs.

But for a player of Tavares’ calibre, it’s become clear, if it wasn’t already, that the Maple Leafs are negotiating hard in this situation. They’re taking advantage of the fact that he clearly wants to remain in Toronto and wants to find the right hometown discount.

Make no mistake, if Tavares remains with the Maple Leafs it will be on a deal that is less than he could get on the open market on Tuesday.

They’re still grinding away, as of Thursday. There’s consistent dialogue on this file and it’s getting time to make a deal because the Maple Leafs want to take care of business before he hits the market.

Reda: Speaking of guys willing to take a haircut, soon to be 36-year-old Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn is now staying in Dallas?

Johnston: He is, and look, this is a case that they player didn’t want to be going to the market at all and looking at anywhere else.

Benn was drafted at the age of 18 by the Stars and in his position of being over 35 years old he could get a bonus-laden deal.

That can be helpful to the team because he gets $1 million base value with the extension and up to $3 million in bonuses that can be paid next season. He will get $2 million if he plays 60 games and $1 million if they reach the Stanley Cup Final and win it.

The reason that can be helpful is because the Stars will have the option to have it on next year’s cap if they have room and if they don’t have room if he hits those bonuses. They can push it beyond a season and basically assume that cap hit down the road.

For a team that’s trying to win the Stanley Cup, as Dallas is, and already pretty close to the ceiling, it’s a beneficial contract. For Benn, it’s beneficial because he gets to stay where he’s the captain and loves to play.

He’s been pretty close in Dallas over the last three years, being on teams that got to the final four. So, they found a creative solution that worked for all sides and gives Dallas more room in the market as they try to upgrade their team.

Reda: What about behind the Stars bench? They went through that pretty public breakup with former head coach Pete DeBoer after another long playoff run that didn’t work out, as well as his relationship with goaltender Jake Oettinger, leading to his firing.

How close are they to finding a new guy behind the bench?

Johnston: They’re getting down to brass tax on that decision.

They spoke to Glen Gulutzan, who was the Stars head coach more than a decade ago but is most recently an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers. He went through a recent interview with Dallas.

Also, Neil Graham is still in the mix. He is the American Hockey League coach with Dallas’ affiliate, the Texas Stars.

It sounds like it’ll mostly likely come down to one of those two individuals.

Remember, one thing general manager Jim Nill mentioned when he made the change with DeBoer was that they’re looking for someone who can maybe grow into the role. A coach that can grow along with the players, be the next voice and head coach in the league rather than going out and getting a more proven commodity.

In the case of Gulutzan, he’s had a couple chances as a head coach, but they were quite a while ago in the past and Graham is looking for his first opportunity.

It seems one of those two men will end up with the job here when the Stars make their final call.

Reda: CBA talks are continuing, and, by all accounts, it seems like it’s progressing towards a deal. There’s word that the league could be going back to an 84-game schedule in the year after next.

They haven’t played that many since the 1993-94 season.

The players didn’t like it then because it was pre-revenue sharing. Is it going to be a lot easier to push something this through since the extra revenue means more cash for them?

Johnston: Well, it’s more cash, which is great. It’s more divisional games for each team; it’s two more each team. That’s something the NHL likes because it promotes rivalries within the sport, and it ultimately reduces the number of preseason games.
It ticks a number of boxes.

The headline is that the NHL will go to an 84-game season during the 2026-27 season but curtailing what they do in the preseason is what makes this work for everyone involved.

The players themselves won’t actually play anymore games per year because they’ll play a little bit less in the exhibition season with two more in the regular season.

Those regular-season games should be winners at the box office and should bring more money that the league and the players would split 50/50.

For me, it’s one of the more interesting aspects of this deal that’s going to be finalized between the NHL and NHLPA and you’re going to see more divisional rivalry-type games, which I think fans like as well.

Reda: Speaking of ways to generate revenue, the NHL is already opening up the bidding for the host cities for the 2028 World Cup.

Johnston: They are and that’s in North America, Europe, and even international destinations.

The league and the players’ association are inviting those applications to come in. The North American ones need to be in by mid-July and it’s late-July for the other cities.

Ultimately, they’re going to hone on in two potential cities with one hosting the final set of games.

I think it’s a sign of how this tournament has grown since it was last held in 2016 in Toronto. International hockey is obviously on the upswing with what we saw at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

There’s going to be a more formal bidding process and in the first quarter of 2026, the league and the players’ association hope to identify where exactly the 2028 World Cup will be held.

Reda: C.J., thanks for the update, it’s a busy, busy few days for you. A reminder that we’ll have a full Insider Trading with Johnston, Darren Dreger, and Pierre LeBrun on the early edition of SportsCentre.