The Buffalo Sabres a Leading Candidate to Land Matthew Tkachuk?

The Buffalo Sabres have not made the postseason in 11 years but the fan optimism has never been higher during that drought.

The Sabres now have arguably the best collection of young players and prospects in the entire NHL.

Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson, Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Matthew Savoie, Isak Rosen, Ryan Johnson, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, Erik Portillo (G), and Devon Levi (G) make up a phenomenal collection of young talent for the organization.

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General manager Kevyn Adams and his scouts have done a wonderful job of drafting and hopefully, it all pays off within the next two or three seasons, as Buffalo is in the middle of its rebuilding phase.

But could Adams decide to trade assets for a proven, young star in the NHL?

In case you have not heard, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has informed the Flames he does not intend to sign a long-term contract with the team and the unrestricted free agent is likely going to be traded soon.

Tkachuk was the 6th overall pick in 2016 and the 24-year-old scored 42 goals and 104 points with Calgary last season.

With the exiting of star forward Johnny Gaudreau, there is now a sense that Tkachuk also wants out because of the future of the team without its top offensive player.

According to Ryan Novozinsky, Bet Online AG lists the Sabres tied for the fourth best odds to land Tkachuk in a trade.

Tkachuk would likely want to sign a long-term deal with a contending team and perhaps back in the United States since he's an American-born player, but Buffalo does have the cap space and assets to pull off a trade such as this; it would only make sense if he would want to play in Buffalo long-term.

This makes far more sense for Buffalo than the Patrick Kane idea, because of Tkachuk's age (Tkachuk is 24 while Kane is 33) and Tkachuk's style of play, which is both offensive and nasty. He could bring both skill and intimidation to a young roster.

The New Jersey Devils have the assets to pull off the trade as well and they lost out on the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes. The St. Louis Blues make sense because Tkachuk's father, Keith, played there for a number of years.

I doubt the Sabres land Tkachuk, but I'm sure Adams has made the phone call to Calgary.