NHL Rumors on Colton Parayko Shutting Down Trade to Sabres Ahead of 2026 Deadline

St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko reportedly put the kibosh on a potential trade to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Parayko declined to waive his no-trade clause, meaning a reported deal to Buffalo is off.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported Wednesday that the Sabres and Blues were finalizing a trade that would have sent a first-round pick and prospect defenseman Radim Mrtka to St. Louis for Parayko, but Parayko had the right of refusal.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic added that while Parayko chose to remain in St. Louis, it "wasn't an easy decision."

Per NHL insider Frank Seravalli, Parayko is still open to a trade elsewhere, but he did not want to go to Buffalo, and his preference is still to stay with the Blues.

The 32-year-old Parayko has spent his entire 11-year NHL career in St. Louis, dating back to the Blues selecting him in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft.

All told, the 6'6", 228-pound rearguard from St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, has appeared in 781 regular-season games for the Blues, recording 78 goals and 231 assists for 309 points to go along with a plus-53 rating.

Parayko has also delivered 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points in 89 playoff games, and he helped lead the Blues to their first and only Stanley Cup win in team history in 2019.

After recording a career-high 16 goals and 36 points last season, Parayko has been limited to just one goal and 13 assists for 14 points in 58 games this season.

Part of Canada's silver medal-winning team at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics last month, Parayko has achieved a great deal of success during his time in St. Louis overall.

However, the Blues are tied for the second-worst record in the Western Conference with 55 points this season, and they have the makings of a seller leading up to Friday's trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the Sabres are arguably the league's most pleasant surprise, as their 78 points are the third-most in the Eastern Conference. As a result, they are trending toward ending the longest active playoff drought in the NHL at 14 years.

Prior to the attempted Parayko trade, Dreger reported that the Sabres and Blues had trade talks focused on St. Louis' star forward Robert Thomas.

Dreger noted that while the teams "went the distance" in their discussions, the Sabres weren't willing to meet the Blues' high asking price of a first-round pick, prospects and a roster player.

The Sabres reportedly did meet a high asking price on Parayko, but the no-trade clause prevented the deal from reaching the finish line.

That would have been a huge "win-now" move for the Sabres, as Parayko is one of the NHL's premier defensive defenseman, and he likely would have solidified Buffalo's D corps as the best in the league alongside Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Mattias Samuelsson.

It also would have represented a significant, long-term commitment, as Parayko is signed through 2030 at an average annual salary of $6.5 million.

Instead, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen is left to explore other options, as Buffalo looks to be an aggressive deadline buyer for the first time in years.