The Hurricanes added a legitimate NCAA scoring threat on Monday, acquiring 23-year-old winger Stiven Sardaryan from the Sabres. Carolina sent back future considerations, which in NHL speak usually means don't ask, and Buffalo obliged.
Hurricanes acquire Stiven Sardarian from Sabres https://t.co/oMMQfLQnJ3
Sardaryan was Buffalo's 3rd-round pick, 88th overall, back in 2021. He never signed an entry-level deal with the Sabres and instead kept stacking points at Michigan Tech, where he just wrapped a monster season: 44 points on 12 goals and 32 assists in 37 games, good enough to win CCHA Forward of the Year and land on the First All-Star Team. For his career across two NCAA stops he's got 100 points in 133 games. That's the profile of a guy teams fight over, not a throw-in for future considerations.
So why did Buffalo let him walk for scraps? Because of a technicality most fans have never heard of, and PuckPedia laid it out in real time.
🚨 Trade To #Canes Stiven Sardaryan 23 y/o F - NCAA To #Sabres Nothing Sardaryan has completed his NCAA eligibility and can become a draft-related UFA by notifying the league that he is no longer in college. His NHL rights will be held by Carolina until 30 days after he files the required paperwork with Central Registry https://t.co/xlXDCpAuJg
Sardaryan has finished his NCAA eligibility, which normally means a player can become a draft-related UFA simply by notifying the league he's no longer in college and walking away from the team that drafted him. He never filed that paperwork. That inaction is what kept his rights alive for Buffalo to trade in the first place — and it's now what hands Carolina a 30-day window of exclusivity once he does eventually notify Central Registry. PuckPedia pointed followers to their own explainer for anyone who wanted the deeper mechanics.
This was explained in our 2026 NCAA draft-related UFA article https://t.co/LYdBBY2pkH
In practical terms: the Hurricanes now control Sardaryan's rights, and unless he suddenly rushes to file the free-agency paperwork, Carolina gets first crack at signing him to an entry-level deal. He's already been assigned to Chicago Wolves, the Hurricanes' AHL affiliate, which tells you Carolina isn't planning on this being a paper transaction — they want eyes on him now that he's out of college.
It's a low-cost, low-risk swing for a franchise that's built its depth chart on exactly these kinds of finds. Worst case, Carolina paid nothing for a guy who never plays a shift. Best case, they just poached a proven NCAA scorer from a division rival for the price of a phone call — all because of a loophole nobody bothered to close before the deadline.