Chicago and Buffalo decided to spice things up on a quiet Tuesday, with the Blackhawks sending defenseman Henri Jokiharju to the Sabres in exchange for winger Alex Nylander. For both, it presents an opportunity to thrive with a new franchise.

Chicago and Buffalo decided to spice things up on a quiet Tuesday, with the Blackhawks sending defenseman Henri Jokiharju to the Sabres in exchange for forward Alex Nylander.

On paper, the deal is a little puzzling. Jokiharju was solid with Chicago prior to the World Junior Championship over the winter, but was sent down to Rockford afterwards to get further seasoning. However, the Blackhawks' acquisitions of Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan meant Jokiharju wasn’t guaranteed a spot with the big club. He now has the opportunity to step into a spot on a Sabres team that’s still rebuilding and adds strong, two-way depth on the right side. Jokiharju is coming off of a season that saw him win gold at the World Championship and world juniors, and his 12 points in 38 games made him a name to watch early in the season.

For Nylander, this serves as a welcome change of scenery for the struggling forward. At no point in the past three seasons has he done enough to earn a full-time roster spot in Buffalo, but he was beginning to trend upwards in the AHL, his 12-goal, 31-point effort in 49 games last season his best in three campaigns. At 21, it's too early to call the 2016 eighth-overall pick a bust – and let's not forget how the Blackhawks have helped transform Dylan Strome's career after he had failed to fit in with the Arizona Coyotes, who drafted him third overall in 2015.

For both players, it's all a bunch of what-ifs at this point, however. Both fell in their respective depth charts this season and, in Nylander's case, opportunities were limited. The Swede was once a top prospect in the Sabres system, one that still struggles to find offensive depth. Nylander fell from 13th to 54th in the span of one year in The Hockey News' annual Future Watch issue and didn't find – nor was he ever really a candidate to get a chance to spark – chemistry with Jack Eichel. While still early, the fourth-line right winger position could come down to Nylander and Dylan Sikura, with Sikura, 23, having the slight edge in age. This is a risky move for the Blackhawks, who a team with two 24-year-olds as the youngest players on the blueline.

With that said, the Blackhawks have a few talented young prospects on the point, such as Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin, Ian Mitchell and Lucas Carlsson. Troube is they won't be ready for a couple of years, at least. The question now is: was this deal made a year too early? Nobody knows yet, but it's a minor deal that could have big implications in the future for both sides.

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