Winnipeg Jets Trade Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian to Buffalo Sabres

The Winnipeg Jets traded Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf to the Buffalo Sabres for Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a first-round draft pick on Feb. 11.

The Winnipeg Jets have traded left wing Evander Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian to the Buffalo Sabres.

In addition, the Jets also dealt goaltending prospect Jason Kasdorf to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Tyler Myers, forwards Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a first-round draft pick, per Ryan Dittrick of the Jets’ official website.  

Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff told Dittrick the trade will make the Jets a better team now and in the foreseeable future:

“This trade will really help strengthen our franchise, both for today and for the future. I’m excited for what this trade brings to our orgnization. 

“Any time you can put someting together like this, it takes a lot of work. There was an abundance of caution and time that went into this. We might not be the most active trading team in the league, but this doesn’t necessarily mean we weren’t active behind the scenes. Having a deal come together like this, certainly in the salary cap and contract world that we live in, it’s very difficult. My hate goes off to (Buffalo GM) Tim Murray, because it takes two (to) make a deal and to be able to work behind the scenes as we did to be able to come to this…I’m excited.

Both Myers and Stafford will be around when the Jets go on the road against the Nashville Predators on Feb. 12. Myers will wear No. 57 while Stafford will don No. 12 for Winnipeg, per Dittrick. 

Myers was the 12th overall selection in the 2008 NHL draft was the Calder Trophy recipient as the league’s top rookie in 2010. That year, he had 11 goals and 37 assists for 48 points. this season, he had four goals and nine assists for 13 points for the Sabres prior to the trade with the Jets. 

Cheveldayoff told Dittrick he likes Myers’ foundation. He quipped,”When we talk about young players and draft picks, we always internally talk about the foundation and the ceiling of a player. Tyler’s got a great foundation. He’s big, he can skate, he can shoot…He’s going to have the opportunity to play with a deeper defense core here.”

Watch GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s press conference addressing today’s trade >> http://t.co/ERddn8cpy8— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) February 11, 2015

Stafford, who has nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points during the 2014-15 NHL season, ought to be a great asset to the Jets. Cheveldayoff says his expiring contract is not a major concern, per the Jets’ official website:

“Drew’s looking for an opportunity to grow and play in this league and in a situation where he can flourish and we believe we can offer that opportunity. We’re not looking at this as a short-term thing. Once he gets here, gets to know our family and coaching staff, our city, I think he’s going to really like it.”

The Sabres will retain half of the salary Stafford is due for the rest of the season, per ESPN. Stafford is earning $4 million 2014-15. 

For his part, Winnipeg team captain Andrew Ladd told Dittrick he’s excited about the development:

“Chevy has sent a message that he believes in our group. I know he’s pretty happy with how things have played out this year and the work that we’ve put in. As a player it’s exciting to have a couple guys come here and help us win some games down the stretch.”

The main repercussion of the trade is Jets head coach Paul Maurice moving Dustin Byfuglien back to his natural defenseman position. On the other hand, Armia will play fo the St. John’s IceCaps of the AHL while Lemieux will still remain with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, per Dittrick. 

As for the Sabres, they continue a long rebuilding process which began last season when they traded goaltender Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues. They then traded leading scorer Thomas Vanek to the resurgent New York Islanders several months ago, per ESPN. 

Buffalo also traded goaltender Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars for fellow goalie Anders Lindback and a conditional third-round draft choice on Wednesday, per ESPN. Should Enroth win four postseason games for Dallas this year, the third-roud draft pick becomes a second-round one. 

Sabres GM Tim Murray told ESPN he has plenty of faith in Bogosian and Kane:

“I believe in these two players. I think that they make us a better organization and a better team. We’re going to be adding young guys as we go along, and they need the right people to follow. I think these two guys fix that.”

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