Six ex-Buffalo players will play in the Stanley Cup Final between Florida and Edmonton on Saturday
The Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers has a decidedly Buffalo feel to it, as six ex-Sabres (Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Evan Rodrigues, Dmitry Kulikov, Kyle Okposo, and Evander Kane) will be playing for the NHL’s ultimate prize.
The performances of some former Sabres players have made their fanbase bemoan their departure, but the circumstances surrounding their trades and the return that they garnered have to be considered whether, in the end, they were beneficial or not. Over the next few days, we will look at each player’s departure and grade how Buffalo did.
Brandon Montour – traded in April 2021 to Florida for a 2021 third-round pick (Stiven Sardarian)
Montour was acquired by the Sabres in 2019 from the blueline factory Anaheim Ducks for Brendan Guhle and a first-round pick after scoring 30+ points in consecutive seasons, but he became another victim of former head coach Ralph Krueger’s mismanagement. The same genius that chose to demote Jeff Skinner to the fourth line played the right-handed Montour on his off-side, and that in part contributed to his scoring decline (32 points in 92 games over two seasons).
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMaMHcgRjXI[/embed]
Shortly after Krueger’s firing, GM Kevyn Adams dealt Montour to Florida for a third-round pick. The 30-year-old gradually improved with the Panthers, setting a career-high 37 points in 2022 and nearly doubling that with a 73-point campaign (16 goals, 57 assists) and eight playoff goals that helped Florida get to the Stanley Cup Final.
After a slow start recovering from off-season surgery, Montour scored over 30 points, is leading all Panthers players in ice time in the playoffs, and could be the most sought-after free-agent defenseman on July 1. In exchange, the 2021 third-round pick was used to select Russian forward Stiven Sardarian. The 21-year-old scored seven goals in his sophomore season at the University of New Hampshire.
Grade - F
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