NHL Trade Rumors: Elliotte Friedman claims Penguins eyeing Sabres prospects amid talks of roster overhaul

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres are two teams with trade synergy in the weeks leading up to the deadline. The hockey insider pointed to the two franchises as teams in desperate need of a rebuild.

The Penguins, who had a flying start to the season, are now near the bottom of their division, having won only two of their last 10 games. Analysts have been predicting a "fire sale" in Pittsburgh for some time now.

“With all of the noise around the Penguins, I believe they have interest in some of Buffalo’s younger, NHL-ready prospects. It fits what they want,” Friedman wrote in his Sportsnet column "32 Thoughts" on Wednesday.

He had also earlier pointed out that the Sabres’ younger players were exactly the type Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas might consider valuable prospects.

Friedman also weighed in on Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s three-game ban and how it would affect the team’s upcoming games.

“I was talking with another executive who said the Oilers and their opponents will be on high alert for how games are called in the aftermath,” Friedman wrote. “Do the Oilers get more power plays? Is there any bias against them? Teams worry about overcompensation.”

Connor McDavid will serve a three-game suspension for a cross-check with his stick on Vancouver Canucks player Conor Garland.

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas says he wants to develop younger players

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said that it was no secret that the Penguins were looking to sign younger players and develop them. However, that did not necessarily mean that the current players would be traded en masse.

Speaking with Josh Getzoff on the biweekly GM Show on Wednesday, Dubas denied the rumors of a “fire sale.”

“We're trying to bring in younger NHL players, we're trying to bring in prospects, and we're trying to bring in draft picks, with the goal being to quickly develop those assets into people that can help the core group of the team here win one more time and then set the team up for the long-range future,” Dubas said via NHL.com.

“But to say that it's a fire sale, and we're willing to retain money on very long-term deals – you know, I understand how that stuff starts to get out and take on a life of its own, but it's not accurate.”

The rumors about the Penguins’ trade plans first surfaced on RG Media, a Montreal-based website with no ties to Pittsburgh media.