When Sabres fans envisioned getting another center over the offseason, not many may have thought of veteran Eric Staal from the Minnesota Wild.
GM Kevyn Adams pulled off his first trade and sent away Marcus Johansson for Staal.
#Sabres were not on Eric Staal's 10-team no-trade list, per source. #mnwild not on Johansson's 10-team no-trade list, per source
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) September 16, 2020
Staal will turn 36 at the end of October but has still put together some strong seasons recently. He’s nowhere near the 100-point player he was in the 2005-06 season, but he has put up at least 52 points in 3 of the last 4 seasons, and he was on pace to top that again this past season.
So, the Sabres believe they can continue to get a similar performance from Staal. They also cleared some salary in the deal as Johansson’s cap hit was $4.5M, but Staal is at $3.25M with one more season remaining on his contract.
Kevyn Adams makes his first trade as #Sabres GM: Johansson for E. Staal
Here is the first trade Botterill made as GM. pic.twitter.com/ajGsR4uyzz
— BuffaloHockeyCentral (@BHCdotcom) September 16, 2020