The Blackhawks have acquired forward Sam Lafferty from the Sabres in exchange for their 2026 sixth-round pick, the team announced.
The move begins the 30-year-old’s second tenure in Chicago. The Hawks previously acquired him from the Penguins for Alexander Nylander in January 2022. He spent parts of two seasons with the club before getting dealt to the Maple Leafs in the 2023 Jake McCabe deal. He suited up 97 times in that span, posting 15 goals and 32 points – the most offensive he’s provided for any of his five NHL teams – and averaged nearly 15 minutes per game.
Chicago had Lafferty back in the organization for a few days last year, acquiring him from the Canucks in the trade that brought Ilya Mikheyev to the Hawks. He was a pending UFA, though, and instead decided to test the open market. He promptly signed a two-year, $4MM deal with the Sabres.
After scoring 13 goals and 24 points with Vancouver last year, it seemed like a worthy bet on Buffalo’s part. Instead, Lafferty struggled to be effective even in a fourth-line role. He averaged just 9:53 per game, making 60 appearances and scoring seven points with a -15 rating. Needless to say, both Lafferty and the Sabres likely preferred a move this summer if possible.
Lafferty now gets to return to the environment where he’s had the most success in Chicago, while the Sabres open up a roster spot and $2MM in cap space. He’ll look to compete for a spot in Chicago’s bottom six with young forwards like Oliver Moore and Landon Slaggert.
As for the Sabres, who hope to be more aggressive in free agency than Chicago today, they now have nearly $23MM in space with a roster size of 17, per PuckPedia. In addition to freeing up a space for a young player like Noah Ostlund or Isak Rosen to make the team out of training camp, they open up even more spending flexibility and shed an undesirable salary.
So we trade him…to trade back for him.
Adams last Summer after signing Lafferty:
“Sam’s a hockey player.”
Thanks Charlie Brown.
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Nice to have Jarmo in the front office playing the role of Snoopy while getting stuff done.
Either Buffalo believes they are going to pull in some major “gets” in free agency, or we’re witnessing them blowing up the team. I can’t remember the last time a team shipped out so many roster players for futures while also claiming to have Playoffs as a goal.
I have no idea what the plan is here.
This is why you shouldn’t use draft picks on guys who project as career bottom six/bottom line guys.
You can always get good ones for next to nothing in trades or free agency.
Chase upside in the draft.
I would think that Reichel’s days (hours/minutes??) in Chicago are definitely numbered now. They now have a player that is actually built for bottom-6 minutes in Laffs.
Lafferty fills 2 needs if he can stay in the line up. He can win a face off and he’s great on the PK. At least he was the last time he was here. If anyone wanted Reichel I think we would have heard by now. Low draft pick coming back at best which they don’t need. I wonder where Ehlers will end up?