By JOSH HELLER
Staff Writer
1) Evander Kane Sent to Sabres in Blockbuster, 7-Player Trade
After all of the events of the past week, the rumors that Evander Kane would be shipped out started to heat up. Darren Dreger of TSN reported on the morning of Wednesday, February 11 that the Sabres and Jets were in serious talks about a possible Kane deal. Dreger had tweeted that a “deal [was] not done, but heating up.” This led to a frenzy of tweets from people all over the hockey side of Twitter. Plenty of people began to come up with possible scenarios, but no one had guessed what was about to happen.
Just over an hour after his original tweet, Dreger reported that the Winnipeg Jets traded Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, and unsigned goalie Jason Kasdorf (currently playing for RPI in the ECAC) to the Buffalo Sabres for Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux, and a 2015 first round draft pick. Many pieces were moved in this deal, some expected others not. Everyone expected Kane to be moved, and reports began to surface that Lemieux was shipped out of Buffalo because he had refused to sign with the team. Myers was a topic of trade rumors, but almost all of the good players on the worst teams are. Meanwhile, former 3rd overall pick back in 2008, Zach Bogosian, was not a hot topic in the rumor mill.
A deal of this magnitude usually has one winner and one loser. But this one was quite fair. The Jets get players like Stafford and Myers, primed to help the team make a push towards the playoffs, while also getting Armia and Lemieux, two former top 35 draft picks, while also getting a first round pick for this upcoming, stacked draft. On the other end of the spectrum, the Sabres all but solidify the Sabres approach for the rest of the season. This trade leaves Buffalo with a potential superstar who won’t play for the rest of this season, top-pairing-caliber defenseman Zach Bogosian, and a goalie who could turn into an NHL caliber player if all goes well. But, they also lose two prospects, a first round pick, a top 6 NHL forward, and a 6’8” behemoth of a man in Myers. Bogosian has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, but he is still young, and has a lot of potential. Overall, this trade was quite fair for both parties.
2) Sabres Trade Starting Goalie Enroth, Primed for Tanking
As if the Kane deal wasn’t enough for Buffalo, later that day, the Sabres sent their starting goaltender Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars for goalie Anders Lindback and conditional 2016 3rd round draft pick.
During this past offseason, the Sabres brought in Michal Neuvirth to play for them. However, with the Sabres being as bad as they are, Neuvirth did not perform up to the standards the team expected him to be at. So, Enroth got the majority of the starts as the season progressed.
Meanwhile, over in Dallas, the Stars also brought in a goalie in the offseason. However, Dallas had only expected Lindback to back up Kari Lehtonen, and not be a major starting role. Lindback has had a rough season, as have the Stars, and he was actually sent down to minors in favor of Jussi Rynnas. Hopefully, Lindback can find a new beginning backing up Neuvirth in Buffalo.
Along with Lindback, Buffalo received a conditional draft pick for next year’s draft. The condition that is tagged along with the pick is that the pick will be a 3rd rounder, unless Dallas makes the playoffs, and Enroth wins at least four playoff games for the Stars. However, barring a Lehtonen injury or trade, there is little chance Enroth plays in four playoff games. Either way, the Sabres are guaranteed a third round pick for 2016.
The two trades that the Sabres made, the Kane deal and the Enroth deal, have all but solidified the Sabres plan for the rest of this year if not farther down the road: tanking. The Buffalo Sabres roster is bad. As in, it could be a historically bad finish. To be frank, the Sabres are done this season, as the roster is just not good enough. However, this may not be a bad thing. Next year, the Sabres will have developed prospects such as Kane, Sam Reinhart, and, depending on their draft position, most likely one of either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. The future, a couple years down the road, is looking bright for the Sabres.
3) Nabakov Retires Where He Began
Back in 1994, goaltender Evgeni Nabakov was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in a round that doesn’t even exist anymore, the ninth round. This past month, we said our goodbyes to Martin Brodeur, and now we say goodbye to the goalie known as Nabby.
After spending 10 seasons in the Sharks organization, Nabakov made his way to Long Island, where he spent three years before finishing up in Tampa Bay for one season. After the Lightning had put Nabakov on waivers, the San Jose Sharks traded future considerations to Tampa for Nabakov, so that he could retire as a Shark.
Nabakov, over his career, allotted 353 wins (18th all time), a goals against average of 2.44 (24th all time), and a save percentage of .911 (26th all time). Alongside Nikolai Khabibulan, Nabakov is thought of as one of the greatest Russian goalies off all time. In the span of a month, we have lost two amazing goaltenders in Brodeur and Nabakov, and the fans thank you for all that you’ve done over your illustrious careers.
