The Buffalo Sabres are coming off their best season in 15 years.

After snapping the NHL’s longest playoff drought, winning the Atlantic Division, and making it all the way to overtime in game seven of the second round, the Sabres have a ton to be proud of.

They also have just as much to look forward to. A team that still has prospects on the way and young players ready to take larger roles, Buffalo is primed to be a team that’s here to stay for a while.

But like most teams who graduate from rebuilder to contender, the salary cap now presents a challenge.

As of now, the Sabres are slated to head into next season with just under $13 million in cap space. That might look like a decent chunk of change, but a lot of that money will evaporate in rather short order as the Sabres start to deliberate with their expiring contracts.

Restricted free agents include 21-year-old Zach Benson, who is coming off his entry-level deal and is due for a massive raise. Forward Peyton Krebs and defenseman Michael Kesselring are also pending RFAs, both with arbitration rights if they choose.

Meanwhile, their unrestricted free agent list is headlined by Alex Tuch, a 33-goal scorer and native of western New York who is reportedly looking for double-digits in his next contract. Beck Malenstyn is also heading towards the open market, as are several other lower-level players in the organization.

The point is, even if the Sabres opt to let some of their free agents walk, it’s highly likely Buffalo will need to offload some money to accommodate the new extensions.

Their cap peril creates an opportunity for the Penguins to take advantage. Over in Pittsburgh, the Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas are operating with about $42.5 million in cap space heading into next season.

The Penguins also have pending free agents to hammer out deals with, including with RFA Egor Chinakhov and UFA Evgeni Malkin. They also don’t want to burn all of that space over the course of the summer. But even keeping that in mind, Dubas and the Penguins will have enough room if an opportunistic deal comes their way.

These two teams already have a track record of deals like this. Last year, the Sabres swung a deal at last year’s draft to offload the final year of defenseman Connor Clifton’s $3.33 million cap hit in Pittsburgh, paying the 39th pick in the draft as part of the trade. Prior history between these teams also include a 2018 trade that saw the Penguins send forward Conor Sheary as the sweetener to dump the ill-fated contract of defenseman Matt Hunwick in Buffalo.

Management has changed in Buffalo since the Clifton deal last June. Then-general manager Kevyn Adams was fired in December last season, replaced by Jarmo Kekäläinen. Despite the new set of eyes, the Sabres still could need a partner to help alleviate some of their costs.

Up front, Jordan Greenway’s contract seems like an easy target to move some money off the books. The forward will enter the second of a two-year deal he signed with the Sabres last season, a contract that accounts for $4 million against the salary cap.

Greenway performed a checking role well in Buffalo, but his one goal and five assists (six points) in 40 games was a career low. He put up two goals and an assist in 13 playoff games. In addition to averaging just 12:27 a night as primarily a fourth liner, he simply doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Sabres at that price tag.

In Pittsburgh, the Penguins could potentially use Greenway as a Noel Acciari replacement. Yes, he’s twice the cost of Acciari’s $2 million cap hit, but that’s certainly manageable if he’s coming with a draft pick in a world with a rising salary cap. Assuming the Penguins are not one of the clubs on Greenway’s five-team no-trade list, Pittsburgh could look to add him for a premium.

Also among the forwards is a former Penguin in Jason Zucker. Unlike Greenway, Zucker did have decent production this past season. In 62 games, the winger scored 24 goals and added 21 assists for 45 points. Zucker has one season left at a $4.75 million cap hit and also has a five-team no trade list.

Now Zucker is probably the less likely cap casualty. The Sabres don’t have to move a guy who finished at a 0.70 points-per-game clip and provided some veteran leadership for this drought-ending Buffalo team. But, Zucker will turn 35 in January. On a young and contending team, he might not have that much of a role moving into the future.

If you’re the Penguins, you very likely aren’t getting a high price to take on Zucker’s contract, but you can still check in on his availability. He fits the mold of someone the Penguins could use for half the season and flip towards the deadline as a pure rental.

Meanwhile on the blue line, defenseman Conor Timmins is another option. Timmins was actually involved in that Clifton deal last year, traded to the Sabres as a pending free agent. Adams later inked him to a two-year deal worth $2.2 million annually on the cap.

The right-shot appeared in 39 games for Buffalo this season, where he posted eight assists and was a -8. He averaged 18:46 a night for the Sabres, good for fifth among defenseman and nearly three full minutes below fourth-placed Owen Power.

Clearing out his modest cap hit likely doesn’t solve all of Buffalo’s problems, but attaching a mid-to-late round pick to get some relief could be worth it for Kekäläinen.

Overall, the Penguins aren’t quite in a position where all they want to do this summer is take on other team’s bad money. But given just how much cap space they have, they can certainly entertain the idea, and if the right deal comes along from a place like Buffalo, why not take a look?