In the month of August, as the news in the hockey world slows to a crawl, we will be taking a look at the most consequential deals in Buffalo Sabres history (using the Hockey News Archives as source material) and ranking the 15 best and the 15 worst deals in the club’s 54-year history.
This required the input of a trio of veteran media members (Dave Reichert, Randy Schultz, and Pete Weber), as well as three lifetime Sabres fans (Chuck Bender, Todd Riniolo, Joe Schwartz).
February 11, 2015 – Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, and Jason Kasdorf from the Winnipeg Jets for Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux, Drew Stafford, and a 2015 first-round pick (Jack Roslovic).
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The Buffalo Sabres under GM Tim Murray were on a quest to be the worst team in the NHL to have the best chance to draft Connor McDavid at the 2015 Draft in Sunrise, FL. That quest was a factor in the Sabres making a massive seven-player deal with the Winnipeg Jets before the trade deadline involving winger Evander Kane.
The Sabres were dreadful and headed for a second consecutive last-place finish. In 2014, Buffalo selected second overall and drafted Sam Reinhart. In 2015, finishing last would either result in drafting a future superstar in McDavid or a potential cornerstone center in Jack Eichel.
Buffalo was battling with Arizona for last overall in February, and Murray was focused on making the Sabres as bad as possible. One example was dealing starting goalie Jhonas Enroth to Dallas for a draft pick because he was winning games and playing too well.
The deal with the Jets was perfect in that he was acquiring Kane, a 24-year-old who had scored 30 goals in Winnipeg and was out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Kane was someone who could help the Sabres the following year with a young core group, but what Murray ignored was the off-the-ice chaos that occurred with Kane and his Jets teammates.
The deal itself involved three former Sabres first-rounders; Drew Stafford (who scored 21 goals the following year for the Jets), Joel Armia (a big depth winger who played three seasons in Winnipeg and the last six years with Montreal), and Tyler Myers (a former Calder Trophy winner who never repeated his rookie success, but has been a solid top-four blueliner with the Jets and Vancouver the last nine seasons), along with feisty winger Brendan Lemieux (a well-travelled antagonist) and a late first rounder, which Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff…