The Buffalo Sabres lost on Saturday night, but that will be viewed as just a blip.

This is one of the hottest teams in sports, on a pretty much unprecedented hot streak in franchise history, and very much in position to go for it.

The Sabres have the league’s longest playoff drought, 14 years, but they’re in prime position to make the postseason.

And they’ve actually been playing well enough to think about even bigger things if, and when, they get there.

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That creates an importance as the NHL enters trade season. The Sabres have to get their moves right.

There’s one thing they need more than anything other, identified by The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn: defensive depth.

“The injuries to Michael Kesselring and Conor Timmins have tested Buffalo’s defensive depth,” Fairburn writes. “Both of them should be fully healthy after the Olympic break, but injuries have forced the Sabres’ top-four defensemen to play heavy minutes lately. Adding another depth defenseman capable of playing a physical style would help them in their push for the playoffs.”

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The good news for Buffalo is that there are plenty of teams who appear to be sellers, and the Sabres aren’t necessarily looking for a star.

Buffalo is still young and wouldn’t want to trade away key future pieces, but small costs for a defenseman or two could be ideal to make the Sabres just that little bit better in a way that can make an impact.

So keep an eye out for improvements on the blue line for the Sabres as they try to make a run at big things this season.

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