Penguins acquire Clifton, pick from Sabres for Timmins and Belliveau

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres worked out a trade early in Saturday’s second day of the 2025 NHL Draft, with the Sabres sending defenseman Connor Clifton and the 39th overall pick to the Penguins in exchange for defensemen Conor Timmins and Isaac Belliveau.

The Penguins then went on to select Peyton Kettles with the 39th pick, adding the 17-year-old Swift Current Broncos blueliner to their prospect pool after he scored a junior career high of five goals and 14 points with the Broncos last season. 

Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Clifton joins the Penguins’ blueline as a right-handed defenseman, having played 384 NHL regular-season games with the Sabres and Boston Bruins, netting 15 goals and 77 points since debuting in 2018-19. 

He is entering the final three of a three-year contract, with an average annual value of $3.33 million per season. 

Heading the other way, the Sabres add 26-year-old defenseman Timmins to their organization. They will have to negotiate a new deal with him as a restricted free agent, after he previously made an AAV of $1.1 million, which included his three goals and 15 points in 68 games split between the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs in 2024-25. Across 159 NHL regular-season games, the St. Catharines, Ont. native has scored six goals and 46 points.

22-year-old left-handed blueliner Isaac Belliveau rounds out the trade and continues to await his NHL debut, after spending the last two seasons in the AHL and ECHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers, which followed a standout junior career with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL.

After both the Penguins and Sabres missed the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they will hope their latest roster moves can help continue their roster construction and rebuilding efforts, with the goal of returning to the postseason in the next few seasons, even if 2025-26 could prove to be a challenging task.