Buffalo Sabres NHL Trade Tracker: February 27
Reimer to San Jose
The calendar may have read Saturday, February 27, but with all the action that happened in the NHL trade world, it could’ve very well been deadline day.
After a few quiet days that saw just one or two trades, things exploded on Saturday.
While the Buffalo Sabres remained fairly quiet on the trade front, other teams across the league made some splashes, including the divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres did made one deal, a five-piece traded that consisted mostly of AHL pieces – as the night wound down.
Taking things chronologically, here’s what went down:
Early in the morning, the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers completed a deal that sent goaltender Anders Nilsson to the Blues.
Goaltender Niklas Lundstrom went to Edmonton in the trade, along with a fifth-round pick in 2016.
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This is a deal that Buffalo Sabres should pay some interest to, for a few reasons.
First and foremost, Lundstrom actually spent some time this season with the Buffalo Sabres’ ECHL affiliate in the Elmira Jackals.
In 13 games with the Jackals, Lundstrom played 657 minutes and went 8-3-0 with a .929 save percentage and 2.92 GAA.
He’s also appeared in four games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, notching a .901 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.
In addition to that facet of the trade, this also likely eliminates St. Louis as a possible destination for Buffalo Sabres netminder Chad Johnson, whose potential trade destination has been a hot topic over the past 24 hours.
Another possible new home for Johnson was suggested to be the San Jose Sharks – but they also made a deal on Saturday that likely takes them off the list for Johnson, too.
The Sharks picked up goaltender James Reimer from the Leafs, along with forward Jeremy Morin. Goaltender Alex Stalock, forward Ben Smith and a conditional 4th-round pick in 2018 head back to Toronto.
The Florida Panthers then completed a trio of deals with the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Detroit Red Wings, respectively.
First, the Panthers picked up Jiri Hudler, sending a pair of draft picks (2nd round, 2016 and 4th round, 2018) to Calgary.
The Panthers also picked up forward Teddy Purcell from Edmonton, in exchange for a 2016 third-rounder.
Finally, Florida sent a sixth-rounder in 2017 to Detroit in exchange for defenseman Jakub Kindl.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers also completed a deal on Saturday evening.
Defenseman Justin Schultz heads to Pittsburgh, with a 2016 third-rounder headed to Edmonton. The Oilers also retain part of Schultz’s salary.
Finally, the Buffalo Sabres shipped out forwards Jason Akeson and Phil Varone and defenseman Jerome Leduc, all from the AHL’s Rochester Americans, to the Ottawa Senators.
In exchange, the Buffalo Sabres picked up Williamsville native Cole Schneider, along with Eric O’Dell, Alex Guptill and defenseman Michael Sdao. The other three are all forwards.
Schneider was leading the Binghamton Senators in scoring, with 42 points in 54 games this season. O’Dell led the Binghamton team with 18 goals this season.
Next: Five Sabres Who Could Be On Trade Block
This was one crazy Saturday in the NHL trade world…. and who knows what will happen Sunday and even Monday?
You can bet Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray is still busy working the phones trying to make deals for his upcoming UFAs, and Buffalo is likely far from done – so stay tuned for more.