During the late 1990s to late 2000s, the Sabres were a perennial contender, making the Stanley Cup Finals once and making numerous appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, with their last appearance in the third round coming in 2007. That also happened to be the final time they’ve won a playoff series.

Their postseason win drought is old enough to drink in Alberta now, but they made two more postseason appearances following 2007, falling in six games to the Boston Bruins in 2010, and to the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games in 2011, their final postseason appearance. Barring an insane turnaround, the Sabres’ playoff drought will hit a decade and a half this season.

Through 29 games, they have an 11-14-4 record, the third-fewest points in the league behind the Nashville Predators (24) and Vancouver Canucks (25). The Sabres have been solid at home, going 9-5-2. On the road has been a whole other story, as they’re 2-9-2, with no regulation wins.

The sad thing is, the Sabres have had the talent throughout the years to break that drought. Since it started, the Sabres have had the 13th pick or higher in each draft, including two first overall picks, two second overall picks, and 11 picks in the top 10.

Let’s take a look at their 2017-18 rosters, for example. It consisted of Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Kyle Okposo, and Evan Rodrigues. What do all those players have in common? Well, they’ve won a Stanley Cup once they’ve departed the team. They also had Rasmus Ristolainen, Jason Pominville, Linus Ullmark, Casey Mittelstadt, and a few other quality NHL talents, and that’s just from one year.

Eichel won that Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights, with the Sabres getting back a quality return in Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2023 second-rounder that was sent to the Minnesota Wild for Jordan Greenway, and the Golden Knights’ 2022 first used to select Noah Östlund, a player who scored twice against the Oilers in their first matchup earlier this season. Tuch, in particular, is interesting as he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Edmonton Oilers, meanwhile, are starting to find their game after their two-month vacation to start the new season is finally over. On the other hand, the Sabres, to the surprise of no one, are terrible yet again. It’s not hard to envision the two teams making a trade before Mar. 6’s trade deadline.

Tuch would be a great fit for the Oilers. Through 29 games this season, the 29-year-old has 10 goals and 25 points in 29 games this season, on pace for 28 goals and 70 points. That’d be his third-highest goal scoring season (he’s reached 36 goals on two separate occasions), while 70 points would be his second-most, having reached 79 points in 2022-23. He also has a contract that the Oilers could fit on their books, carrying a $4.75-million cap hit that, if retained at 50 percent, would be just $2.375-million.

Imagine the winger playing alongside Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid? It’d take a haul despite the 29-year-old be an unrestricted free agent, but it’d be well worth it. As for an extension, the Oilers have a projected $17.9 million in cap space next season, easily enough to re-sign Tuch.

There is still plenty of time before the March 6th trade deadline, with the Oilers hosting the Sabres Tuesday night at 7:00 PM MT.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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