The Stanley Cup Final is still underway, but the offseason has begun for the other 30 teams across the NHL. And it’s hard to find a team as fascinating as the Sabres will be this summer. After ending a league-record, 14-season playoff drought, the Sabres have a ton of offseason questions to answer. Alex Tuch is a pending unrestricted free agent and arguably the best player in this free-agent class. Beck Malenstyn is an unrestricted free agent, too. And Zach Benson, Peyton Krebs and Michael Kesselring are among the notable restricted free agents the Sabres have to deal with. Plus, Bowen Byram is extension eligible again and is one year away from being an unrestricted free agent.We touched on some of those topics in our notebook from the NHL Scouting Combine. Now we’re diving into the mailbag to answer some other offseason questions. This one will need multiple parts as I sift through the long list of inquiries you all had. Here’s part one.Note: Submitted questions may be edited for clarity and style.If Dylan Larkin is on the market, does that make Robert Thomas’ price a little more reasonable? — Fred D.The last few days have shown that sometimes the idea of someone being on the trade block is more fun than the reality. Over the weekend, Andy Strickland reported that the Blues aren’t making Thomas available for trade, and he will be on the team to start the regular season. Of course, there have been similar reports in the past about players who have eventually moved, but logic tells you that trading a 26-year-old No. 1 center who has a reasonable contract with plenty of term doesn’t make a lot of sense. Unless Thomas wants out (and nothing is indicating that’s the case), the Blues shouldn’t be looking to move him.That brings us to Larkin, who has asked to be traded from the Detroit Red Wings. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has five straight 30-goal seasons, recently won a gold medal with Team USA and would be capable of being a top-line center for the Sabres. The hang-up here is that he has a no-trade clause, and that could give him a degree of control over where he gets traded. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman can dig in a bit, but Larkin can nix any trade. But if he really wants to get traded, Yzerman might be able to strong-arm him into a team that offers the best package.The Sabres will have a few things working against them here. One is that Yzerman probably doesn’t want to trade him within the division if he can avoid it. Another is that other teams will be higher on Larkin’s list. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported on Monday that Larkin has a short list of three preferred teams, and she believes those teams are the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild.The Sabres are a more attractive destination than they have been in a long time after ending the playoff drought and putting Buffalo back on the map as one of the best hockey markets in the United States. And in Larkin’s case, Buffalo is close to home, and his Team USA teammate Tage Thompson could play on his wing. But this particular trade scenario looks like wishful thinking unless Larkin is forced to expand his list at some point. The Sabres do have a nice blend of veteran players and prospects they could offer to create a competitive trade package if that’s the case.