Surprising Moves In Buffalo

Late last night, the Sabres agreed on a trade with the Winnipeg Jets.  The move sent packing goaltender Kari Lehtonen, promising goaltender Tristan Jarry and a couple of picks.  In return, the Sabres got experienced goaltender Roberto Luongo.

Lehtonen and Luongo's skills are very similar but Roberto brings great leadership and a bit more experience to the Sabres.

In another surprising move, the Sabres moved fan favorite Mike Richards and young forwards Jesper Fast and Erik Haula to the Montreal Canadiens for Kris Versteeg and a first rounder.

Mike has been with us since the beginning of the league but he was not producing at an acceptable level this year, and at a cap hit of 5.1M, this move was necessary in this salary cap era.  Coach Therrien had recently demoted him from the 2nd to the 3rd line.  In 259 games with the Sabres, Richards had 85 goals and 142 assists for 227 points.  He had been the Sabres captain for the first three years of the league before Patrice Bergeron took over the captaincy earlier this season.

In Versteeg, the Sabres get a player who can contribute right away but coach Therrien has not confirmed yet which role Kris will have with the team.  John Mitchell will be called up from the farm team and take Richards spot on the 3rd line until it is all figured out.  Mitchell is currently leading the AHL with 44 points and he deserves a chance with the big club so the spot is his to loose.