The first of what surely will be a small handful of draft day trades took place this morning as the Buffalo Sabres traded for Senators goalie Robin Lehner. The Sabres also acquired David Legwand from Ottawa in exchange for the 21st pick in the draft.
The Sabres will hope that Lehner can continue to advance in his career and become that no doubt number one goalie. The 23-year-old has had a .910 save percentage in his last two seasons of spot duty, consisting of 61 games. They’ll also take on Legwand’s salary which will help them reach the cap floor.
“Robin was our target. He was the number one goalie available. He just needed a change of scenery.” – Tim Murray. #Sens #Sabres
— Sylvain St-Laurent (@Syl_St_Laurent) June 26, 2015
Sabres’ Tim Murray: “We’re going to walk out of here after today with Jack Eichel and Robin Lehner. I think that’s huge for the franchise.”
— John Vogl (@BuffNewsVogl) June 26, 2015
Ottawa, meanwhile, made out like bandits here. They shed Legwand’s salary and made their goalie situation a little less crowded in return for a first round pick in a deep draft. Now, with picks 18 and 21 tonight, they have options. Keep the picks, bundle them and move up, or trade one pick with another goalie (they still have Craig Anderson and Andrew Hammond) and acquire somebody else. Something tells me the Senators aren’t done dealing today. As for the Sabres, they might not be done either:
Two sources outside #Sabres tell me they’re trying for a lot more on the trade front. No real surprise there. Has to include ROR.
— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) June 26, 2015
That’s ROR as in Ryan O’Reilly. So enjoy this trade as a nice appetizer. The entrees are surely coming to your table today.
