Significant trade brewing between Penguins and Sabres that could take place tonight!

Amongst the league’s most talked about trade candidates, there is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust and things only intensified when, hours before Round 1 of the NHL Draft in Los Angeles tonight, insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the Pens and Buffalo Sabres have been discussing the possibility of a trade involving not only the top forward, but also a first round pick. This is what Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts Podcast:

“The Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres have reportedly held trade talks regarding the 9th overall pick, as well as Bryan Rust.”

In Pittsburgh, Rust has a bargain $5.125 million cap hit until the end of the 2027-28 season and the Penguins cannot be in a hurry to possibly move him. However, if that ninth overall pick is in the mix, general manager Kyle Dubas may be having second thoughts.

“I think there has been a lot of interest in Bryan Rust, and for good reason,” Friedman added. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Buffalo was one of those teams, too. Don’t know if it will happen, but I think there are a lot of teams looking at that guy. I would think Columbus would be another… But someone told me that Buffalo was one of the teams around Rust.”

After trading JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth, the Sabres have a clear hole in their top six, and Rust would be the perfect fix to fill the void.

I don’t know how Rust would feel about going to Buffalo, or how the Penguins’ veterans, including captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang would feel about losing another beloved teammate.

The New York Islanders surely got things moving on the draft floor early on Friday when they signed and traded defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens in return for 23-year-old Emil Heineman is part of the return, along with both MTL picks (No. 16 & No. 17) of tonight’s draft.

A lot happening on the trade block and the draft floor it seems.