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 Sabre fans (Chuck Bender, Todd Riniolo, and Joe Schwartz).
10. March 5, 2014 – Buffalo acquires forwards Nicolas Deslauriers and Hudson Fasching from the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Brayden McNabb, winger Jonathan Parker, a 2014 second-round pick (Alex Lintuniemi) and 2015 second-round pick (Erik Cernak).
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READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES TRADES
Best Trades In Sabres History – #10
Worst Trades In Sabres History – #11
Sabres GM Tim Murray nearing the end of the disastrous 2014 season was looking to the future and saw that the club was fairly well stocked at the time on defense with former Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers just 23 years old, and 2013 first-rounders Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, and 2012 second-rounder Jake McCabe all making their NHL debuts, but comparatively, the forward prospect coffers were bare.
Murray had dealt winger Thomas Vanek to the NY Islanders in October for Matt Moulson and a pair of high draft picks, and before the deadline had moved Moulson to Minnesota, and veteran winger Steve Ott to St. Louis, so looking to acquire some young forward depth in exchange for someone from his defensive stockpile, the Sabres dealt big 22-year-old blueliner Brayden McNabb, minor league forward Jonathan Parker and 2014 and 2015 second-round picks to the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Nicolas Deslauriers and Hudson Fasching.
McNabb was in the final year of his three-year entry-level contract and coming off a third solid season with AHL Rochester (which likely meant he would have a difficult time getting through waivers the following season) and the two second-rounders had been obtained from the Kings the previous year in exchange for veteran defenseman Robyn Regehr.
Deslauriers was a combative physical 23-year-old forward who had spent three seasons with Manchester of the NHL, while the 19-year-old Fasching (a 6’3”, 209 lb. winger) was coming off a promising 30-point freshman year at the University of Minnesota.
The deal did not…