The Buffalo Sabres were slated to select near the top of the second round on day two of the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles, but they pulled off a trade sending the 39th overall pick and defenseman Connor Clifton to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Conor Timmins and minor leaguer Isaac Beliveau. 

The 30-year-old was a free agent signing of the Sabres in 2023 after spending his first five seasons with the Boston Bruins. The New Jersey native signed with Buffalo in part because of former head coach Don Granato, who coached him as part of the US National Development Program and potentially as a right-handed compliment to either Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power. In 152 games, Clifton had 34 points (5 goals, 29 assists) and played mostly on the bottom pairing.   

Other Sabres Stories

Sabres Summer Dilemmas - Bowen Byram

Sabres Facing An Off-Season Of Change

Timmins, 26, was originally a second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche who was traded to Arizona in a 2021 deal for goalie Darcy Kuemper. He was dealt the following year to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played for nearly three seasons. At the 2025 trade deadline, the right-handed defenseman was sent to Pittsburgh. Beliveau, 22, was a 2021 fifth-round pick of the Penguins who has split time between the ECHL and AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the last two seasons.

The reason for the deal appears to be mostly financial, as Clifton was slated to earn $3.33 million in the final year of his three-year contract. Timmins is a larger right-handed defenseman, an arbitration-eligible RFA, coming off a 15-point season and in arbitration will undoubtedly make less than what Clifton is making.   

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo