Buffalo Sabres Should Consider Trading Chris Stewart

The Buffalo Sabres are in “rebuild” mode, which is simply a fancy, more professional sounding way of saying “tanking to draft super prospect Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in 2015.” The team has some young talent in the organization, but right now a season-long fire-sale is going on and essentially every veteran is on the block and likely to be moved before the trade deadline. One who will attract plenty of attention is power forward Chris Stewart.

Stewart is in the last year of his deal and will be a free agent this summer, but his size and at times dangerous offensive game will make him a sought after commodity. It’s worth noting the former 28-goal scorer has a measly two points in 17 games this season, but a change of scenery would surely bring about new motivation and get him back on track offensively as the 27-year-old looks to earn a new deal in the offseason.

One team that springs to mind that covets big, hard-nosed forwards and has a bit of a hole at right wing is the Boston Bruins. Traditionally I’d say it’s a longshot the Sabres would trade him within the division, but if the Bruins put together the best offer there’s no way the Sabres turn them down. The team is rightfully after every asset they can get their hands on and surely they don’t care where said assets come from.

Playing Stewart alongside playmaker David Krejci in Boston would surely bring him back to being an all-around power forward who hits, fights and scores, essentially the prototypical Bruins forward. Boston would have to make some roster moves to accommodate Stewart’s $4.1 million cap hit, but I’d expect Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli to do the maneuvering to make it happen. I’d even venture a guess to say if the Bruins’ offer was good enough the Sabres would be willing to eat a substantial amount of Stewart’s cap hit to make the deal happen.

In the long and short terms, a Stewart to the Bruins trade makes almost too much sense. The Bruins get a power forward to play on Krejci’s right wing a la Nathan Horton and Jarome Igninla, Stewart gets a fresh start and the Sabres get assets in the form of prospects and/or draft picks to aid their rebuild. The future is bright in Buffalo with their young talent, future high draft picks and other assets they get in potential trades, but there will be plenty of darkness before that light.