7 Biggest Trades in Buffalo Sabres History, Ranked

The Buffalo Sabres have been on the winning and losing end of some blockbuster deals.

Buffalo was able to land a franchise-changing goaltender for pennies on the dollar, but they also traded away a franchise cornerstone after a dispute over medical treatment. 

Check out the seven biggest trades in Sabres’ history.

Buffalo Sabres Biggest Trades

1. Stephane Beauregard and a Fourth-Round Pick for Dominik Hasek  

One trade can completely change the fortunes of a franchise, and this move actually did that for the Sabres.

After trying to land Dominik Hasek for years, Buffalo finally got a deal over the line with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1992. 

Chicago already had a star goaltender in Ed Belfour, so it had no reason to hold onto Hasek and the Blackhawks’ loss was the Sabres’ gain.

“The Dominator” quickly developed into one of the best goaltenders in the NHL with Buffalo and went on a generational run in the mid-1990s. Hasek won six consecutive Vezina Trophies between 1994 and 1999 and won back-to-back Hart Trophies in 1997 and 1998, making him the only goaltender to win the award multiple times.

Hasek led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999, and his No. 39 jersey was retired in 2015.

2. Jack Eichel and a Third-Round Pick for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a First-Round Pick, and a Third-Round Pick

This was a bitter pill to swallow.

Jack Eichel was selected with the second pick of the 2015 NHL Draft and was supposed to be the player that brought Buffalo out of the dark ages. The early returns were promising, but things took a turn for the worse when Eichel hurt his neck and wanted to get an artificial disc replacement. 

The Sabres balked at the idea and that turned the relationship sour, eventually leading to Eichel requesting a trade.

Buffalo sent Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights for what looked like a decent haul, but the return has paled compared to what Eichel has accomplished in Sin City.

Eichel was meant to turn the Sabres from an NHL betting long shot into a contender, but instead he won a Stanley Cup with a perennial powerhouse in Vegas.

3. Eddie Shack for Rene Robert

The third piece to one of the most famous lines in NHL history, Rene Robert joined Buffalo in 1972.

Robert, along with Rick Martin and Gilbert Perreault, were one of the most feared trios in the NHL and were dubbed “The French Connection” due to their Quebecois roots. 

Robert scored the overtime winner in “The Fog Game” during the 1975 Stanley Cup Final and his No. 14 jersey hangs in the rafters next to Perreault’s and Martin’s.

4. Ryan O’Reilly for Tage Thompson, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, a First-Round Pick, and a Second-Round Pick

This deal serves as a reminder that you can’t judge the fallout from a trade for a few years. 

When this trade was consummated on July 1, 2018, the entire hockey world saw it as a fleecing in the St. Louis Blues’ favour. It continued to look that way when Ryan O’Reilly won a Stanley Cup a year later. 

But things have changed.

Tage Thompson has developed into a star with the Sabres and signed a long-term contract with the club in 2022. 

What was once seen as a lopsided deal, is now viewed as a win-win because the Blues got their Stanley Cup and the Sabres landed a first-line centre that has 50-goal potential.

5. Pierre Turgeon, Uwe Krupp, Benoit Hogue, and Dave McLlwain for Pat Lafontaine, Randy Wood, Randy Hillier, and a Fourth-Round Pick

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw plenty of blockbuster trades around the NHL, and this one certainly fit the bill.

The Sabres gave up a lot to land Pat LaFontaine from the New York Islanders, but he was a force to be reckoned with in Western New York.

LaFontaine scored 93 points in just 57 games in his first season with the Sabres, but he took things to a new level with a record-setting 148-point campaign in 1992-1993. 

6. Dominik Hasek for Vyacheslav Kozlov and a First-Round Pick

The Sabres were in a financial pickle at the turn of the millennium and it forced the team into some tough decisions. 

One of those choices was to send Hasek to the Detroit Red Wings, who were already considered one of the Stanley Cup favourites according to the hockey betting lines, for an underwhelming return. 

Sabres fans were thrilled to see Hasek get rewarded with a Stanley Cup when he was in Detroit, but this trade still is remembered as one of the worst in the history of the franchise. 

7. Chris Gratton and a Fourth-Round Pick for Daniel Briere

This wasn’t viewed as a big deal at the time it was struck, but it turned into a massive moment for the Sabres.

Daniel Briere had an up-and-down stint with the Phoenix Coyotes, which meant the Sabres were able to buy low on the small, but skilled forward at the 2003 trade deadline.

The deal would pay off in a big way as Briere would join forces with Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek, and Maxim Afinogenov. That turned the Sabres into a bona fide Stanley Cup contender in the seasons after the 2004-2005 lockout.