Sabres make 1-for-1 forward trade with Capitals

1 hour ago 1

The Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals pulled off an under-the-radar forward trade on Monday.

The Sabres are getting forward Zac Funk, while the Capitals are getting forward Tyler Kopff -- in a deal announced by the teams.

Funk is a right winger originally from British Columbia.

Now 22 years old, Funk has split the last two seasons between the AHL's Hershey Bears and the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays.

In the AHL, Funk has played 15 games and has two goals and four assists.

In the ECHL, he's up to 38 games played, totaling 11 goals and 12 assists.

Funk seems most likely to try and make the AHL's Rochester Americans for the season ahead.

Kopff is 23 years old and had five points (one goal, four assists) with Rochester in 30 games last season. He also had six points in 10 games with ECHL Jacksonville.

MORE: How a 3-team Dylan Larkin, Jason Robertson trade could work

The 6-foot-4 Kopff played collegiately at Brown University and had 28 points in 2024-25.

He's got a decent chance to start next season at Hershey, and he'll try to show that his physical stature can translate to on-ice production.

This is one of those fascinating deals where from the outside, you can't quite tell what's happening. There were surely reasons for both sides to make this trade, but both players seem more like organizational depth as opposed to anyone with upside.

There's a decent chance neither Funk nor Kopff ever makes the NHL. If that's the case, this trade will age even more quietly.

But for now, both players have a new believer, and they'll try to make the most of it.