The Buffalo Sabres have started the trade deadline season with a bang. The team traded defenseman Tyler Myers, forward Drew Stafford, prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux and a 2015 first round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for forward Evander Kane, defenseman Zach Bogosian and goalie Jason Kasdorf.
The thought was any trade for Kane would happen at the draft as the forward is done for the season with surgery. Buffalo did not want to wait and neither did the Jets. It had been speculated for a while that Myers may be on the block for the right return and Buffalo feels they finally got it.
In another smaller move, the Sabres also traded goalie Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars in exchange for once promising goalie Anders Lindback and a conditional third round pick in 2016.
Enroth has been one of the few bright spots for Buffalo this season though his numbers don't tell whole story of how well he has played. Enroth will be a reliable backup for Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen.
Lindback signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning a few years back to be their starter after serving as Pekka Rinne's backup in Nashville. Lindback never became the number one goalie Tampa envisioned and brought in Ben Bishop.
Nabakov Retires
Evgeni Nabakov has played his final NHL game. The longtime San Jose Sharks net minder was traded back to the Sharks earlier this week for future considerations. Nabakov then announced his retirement from the game.
It was a nice gesture on the part of the Sharks allowing him to retire from the team where it all began. Nabakov is the franchise leader in games played (563) and wins (293) as a goalie. HE was the back bone of the franchise as they became playoff regulars.
Roussel Suspended
Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel has been suspended for two games by the NHL's Department of Player Safety. Roussel was given a five minute major and game misconduct for cross checking Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid.
The incident occurred at 3.43 of the first period during Tuesday night's game. Roussel will forfeit just over 21,500 dollars in salary that will be donated to the Player's Emergency Assistance Fund.
League Leaders through 2/12/15
Goals – Nash (34)
Assists – Voracek, N. Backstrom (41)
Points – P. Kane (62)
Plus/Minus – Pacioretty (+28)
Wins – Rinne (32)
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on twitter @wtfd103074
