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The dust settles on the Evander Kane/Tyler Myers blockbuster trade |
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The reactions of Sabres fans ranged from relief that a trade was finally consummated, to cautious excitement, to cries for help while standing on a ledge 10 stories up. In Winnipeg, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was almost giddy in his excitement while in Buffalo, Sabres GM Tim Murray displayed his usual Joe Friday persona whilst injecting poignant quips every now and then to lighten things up.
At the heart of the blockbuster trade yesterday were Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers and Jets winger Evander Kane. Myers' name had be churning in the rumor mill for nearly a year while Kane's name recently came to the fore like a Saskatchewan Screamer rolling through the halls and offices of the MTS Iceplex, home of the Winnipeg Jets.
It started early yesterday morning with TSN' Bob McKenzie tweeting that things were heating up between the Sabres and the Jets. His colleague, Darren Dreger started putting the deal together, "Huge deal. Hearing Myers Stafford Armia and Lemieux plus a first for Kane and Bogosian as principles of deal getting close btwn Buf + Wpg."
And to be fair, one of our very own, buffalo1000 nailed most of the complex trade just before 10:00pm Tuesday night and said it's up to the Sabres to agree to it.
The deal consummated late yesterday morning was the Buffalo Sabres sending NHL'ers Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux along with a 2015 1st round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and goalie prospect Jason Kasdorf.
It was a huge trade, one that usually involves teams other than the Buffalo Sabres. At least that was the case during a long era before Murray came in as general manager. Unlike his counterpart in Winnipeg, this was the second go-round for Murray on a multi-element, blockbuster deal. Just shy of one year ago, Murray sent Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, a 2015 first round pick and what ended up being a 2016 third round pick.
The precursor to this is that Murray was willing to go hard after young NHL players if the opportunity presented itself by using the large asset-pool at his disposal to do so. The Sabres are a team that began rebuilding in 2012, drafted 28 players in the ensuing three drafts and were slated to have nine more picks in this years draft. In addition, the Sabres drafted five first-rounders the past three years, seven second-rounders and were heading to Sunrise, FL with three firsts and two seconds before the trade went down.
It was an embarrassment of riches, but also was getting to the point where the farm system was getting clogged up. Murray had been looking for this type of deal for a long time saying his plan all along was to do something like this to speed up the rebuild. "I think I said from Day-1 that we have a lot of picks, there were extra picks when I got here, we acquired a couple extra picks," he said at the presser yesterday, "and I've said all along that I'd much rather use them for players that have played a certain amount of games in the league, but that still fit the rebuild, still fit the age category that we needed.
"This is my preference to going to the draft and picking twice in the first round high every year. That [latter part] is not my goal."
Murray still has two first round picks at the draft this year including what looks to be their own top-two pick plus the higher of the remaining two.
Kane is the player Murray's been looking for as he fits the rebuild while at 23 years old still fits the age category. The player himself has been on Murray's radar since he was in junior while Murray was assistant general manager in Ottawa and he looks at Kane as a key piece going forward. "He's gonna be a big part of any success we have here, I believe" said Murray. "You watch him play on the ice, he plays hard, he plays in traffic, he doesn't play a perimeter game, he plays a heavy game, he scores goals from around the net, he plays the game right.
"He finishes checks, he's a good fighter. That's his character on the ice."
Of course with he whirlwind of controversy recently enveloping Kane off the ice, everyone wanted to know if his perceived baggage would be accompanying him in Buffalo. Kane's off-ice character came up yesterday, of course, and was highlighted by the fact that a football player with character issues, Richie Incognito, was signed by the Buffalo Bills. The Bills and the Sabres have the same owner, albeit in differing degrees, in Terry Pegula.
Murray made it clear that Pegula, as owner of the team, wanted to know what was going on, but that the end result is all on him.
"[Pegula] asked questions and I answered them truthfully and to the best of my ability. It wasn't all unicorns and rainbows and juju's," said Murray of Kane's issues. "it never is with any player. Players have warts. The best players have warts and I can tell you the best of the very best of players had warts. It's just what it is. He listened, asked questions, he wants to be informed and then he told me to do what I felt was best.
"I made a trade for Kane so I'm not worried about his character."
Despite Murray coveting Kane for a long time, one would believe that he didn't fly into the decision haphazardly. TSN's Shawn Simpson tweeted yesterday that "Tim Murray and Kane's agent Craig Oster are very tight. Buffalo must be getting good Intel on Kane's character."
Simpson also tweeted a good overview of the trade, "Based on NHL bodies moved between Buf/Win. Risk/reward meter. Jets take lower risk. While Sabres could get higher reward. Fits Jets model!"
In addition to the high-risk/high-reward Kane, the Sabres also picked up Bogosian, a 6'3" 215 lb. defenseman who was taken 3rd-overall in the 2008 NHL draft, nine spots ahead of Myers.
Ironically enough, both he and Myers are at the same points in their careers as it would seem as if they've been struggling to reach lofty expectations. "Zach Bogosian makes a lot of money and, as such, people expect a lot," wrote Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press, October 14, 2014.
The title of the piece asked for fans to temper their expectations and you could easily take Bogosian's name out of that statement and replace it with Myers, as any Sabres follower will attest to.
Bogosian was drafted as a powerful skater with a heavy shot "that screamed offensive-defenseman," wrote Lawless, and he even had a stellar rookie season where he scored 10 goals, but injuries "have impeded his development and a breakout statistical season has been elusive."
Lawless, at the time, called this "a critical season" in the 24 yr. olds career as he headed into the second year of a 7-year/$36m contract. Bogosian answered that with three goals and 10 assists in 41 games before the trade, not exactly stellar offensive numbers.
Despite the numbers and injuries, Winnipeg liked Bogosian, "People want him to succeed," wrote Lawless. "Bogosian is easy for fans to love. He's committed and accountable. He is a throwback in many ways and still plays the game with the physical edge Canadian hockey fans love to see in their team's players."
Although Kane was the focal point, Murray found himself a defenseman comparable to Myers, but with more of a physical edge to his game. "He's big, strong, athletic kid who plays hard," Murray said of Bogosian. "[He] has a ton of character, in my estimation, he has leadership qualities. I've liked him from the first game I saw him as an amateur player."
When Murray was talking about Kane and how he "fit the rebuild," Bogosian is one who fits in as well.
Murray looks to be building a western conference-type hockey club filled with players featuring size and grit and a willingness to get into the bloody-nose areas of the ice. He's been stressing character, leadership and toughness as well. Add that to the philosophy that proceeded him--"bigger, tougher, faster"--and the definition of the Buffalo Sabres moving forward is a fast team that's tough to play against, something he mentioned yesterday.
"Both guys (Kane and Bogosian) bring multiple dimensions, but the one dimension they both bring is they're hard to play against," said Murray. "They make us as a team, harder to play against. I guess I'm a fan of that."
As we look at the particulars that the Sabres sent to Winnipeg, none of Myers, Stafford or Armia were particularly "hard to play against." Only Lemieux would fit that mold, and he was insisted upon by Cheveldayoff.
On the surface it would look as if the Jets got the better of the deal, some would say in a landslide, and if Kane cannot keep his focus on the ice where it belongs, this trade could turn out to be a disaster. But as the dust settles, the words of Simpson really ring true as it's a trade that could really set this team up for years to come.
You gotta hand it to Murray for his focus on the type of team he wants to build and his willingness to jump at the opportunity to expedite the rebuild. He went into this with a bounty of assets at each level of the organization and used a handful to get this deal done. High marks also should be given for the kahunas he showed in getting the deal done.
And as a Sabres fan, you gotta love that he's looking at this season as the last one at the bottom of the league. Murray has said on more than one occasion that he's not interested in perennial top-two picks and that he'd like to get this rolling in earnest next season.
I'm with radio personality Mike Schopp when he said that he can't wait for opening night in 2015. Names like Kane and McEichel joining Girgensons, Ristolainen, Zadorov and Reinhart, etc, despite the high cost involved. It should make these two seasons of suffering worthwhile.
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