How Did The Sabres Fare In These Trades? – Evan Rodrigues
Six ex-Buffalo players will play in the Stanley Cup Final between Florida and Edmonton on Saturday
How Did The Sabres Fare In These Trades? – Evan RodriguesThe 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.
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Evan Rodrigues – traded in February 2020 with Conor Sheary to Pittsburgh for Dominik Kahun
A head-scratching move made by GM Jason Botterill just a few weeks before the league was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sabres missed the expanded playoff format by three points and the deal with the Penguins was clearly a deadline dump deal, as Buffalo cleared over $4 million in salary. Rodrigues was coming off a career-high 29-point season, but the Boston University teammate of Eichel slumped to just nine points in 38 games before being dealt. Sheary was traded to Buffalo by Pittsburgh in 2018 and was returned to the Penguins two years later for a playoff run.
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This trade looks exceedingly bad in retrospect, as Rodrigues returned to Pittsburgh after his rights were traded to Toronto and scored a career-high 19 goals in 2022.
The 30-year-old center has signed with Colorado and Florida the last two seasons and scored in double figures. Sheary left Pittsburgh and signed with Washington in 2020. He spent three seasons with the Caps scoring in double figures each year before signing a three-year deal with Tampa Bay, while Kahun played a grand total of six games with the Sabres. The 28-year-old signed with Edmonton in 2020 and spent one season with the Oilers before heading to play in Switzerland the last three seasons.
Grade - F
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