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.
Evander Kane – traded in February 2018 to San Jose for Danny O’Regan, a 2019 first-round pick and 2019 fourth-round pick
Kane was part of the mega-deal between the Sabres and Winnipeg in 2015 that sent Tyler Myers to the Jets. The power forward spent almost three seasons in Buffalo and scored 20 or more goals each year, but he did not have the success that GM Tim Murray imagined playing alongside Jack Eichel and some off-the-ice antics made his tenure troublesome.
On their way to a last-place finish that would result in selecting Rasmus Dahlin first overall and with Kane in the final year of his six-year deal, the Sabres dealt him as a deadline rental to San Jose for forward Danny O’Regan and a pair of 2019 draft picks. The first-round pick in the deal was used in the trade with Anaheim along with Brendan Guhle to acquire Brandon Montour, the other pick was packaged with a lower pick to move up in the fourth round to select Aaron Huglen, who is entering his senior season at the University of Minnesota.
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The Sharks liked what they saw after the trade and signed Kane to a seven-year, $49 million contract, and continued to produce consistently, but more off-the-ice issues led to his contract being terminated in January 2022. He signed with Edmonton a few weeks later on a one-year deal, and after producing well for the remainder of the season and scoring 13 goals in 15 playoff games, the Oilers signed him to a four-year extension, and in the past two seasons he has scored 40 goals in 118 games.
Grade – C-
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