It’s been a busy week, but this story represents the second portion of my deadline breakdown of the trades made by Darcy Regier on Monday’s trade deadline.

The Cody Hodgson acquisition was more electric than most trades usually made by Darcy Regier. However, when strictly evaluating return, I would say that poaching a first round pick in exchange for Paul Gaustad and a fourth is a massive victory for Regier.

Moving Gaustad was a necessary evil. He is a pending UFA and is allegedly asking for $3m per year on a new contract. Gaustad is barely worth the $2.3m cap hit he has now; let alone a raise to $3m. He has plenty of intangibles that are attractive to playoff teams, which is why I understand the interest he attracted at the deadline. However, I’m not sure a first round pick was equal to what he will bring to the Predators.

Gaustad has toughness, kills penalties and wins faceoffs. Those traits are going to be valuable if the Predators hope to advance deep in the playoffs. They also have the depth and talent to part with the first round pick they gave up. Of course, if they win the Cup there will be no questioning the trade on their end.

Replacing Gaustad will be difficult. There is an outside chance that he opts for a hometown discount and signs on July 1. If that scenario played out, Regier would have pulled an amazing feat; basically trading a fourth round pick for a first. Assuming Gaustad ends up elsewhere, there are plenty of other checking centers available on the free agent market. Since these players are so common, his loss is less impactful. I doubt Regier will struggle to replace Gaustad’s toughness and defensive prowess based on the impending UFA crop.

For the Sabres, the first round pick could be gold. The last time they picked twice in the first round they ended up with Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis. Considering the Sabres are likely going to have a selection somewhere near the top-ten, a pair of first round talents is nothing to sneeze at. Buffalo also has two second round picks too. That means Darcy Regier has four selections in the first sixty picks.

Those four picks gives Regier the option to package them in a trade for a roster player. A hockey trade, if you will. There is plenty of chatter that the Sabres are attempting to move either Drew Stafford or Derek Roy, possibly even both. While these rumors aren’t necessarily confirmed, packaging one of those forwards with a first round selection could certainly bring a hefty return. Even using the first and one of their second round picks along with a player would be a very interesting trade offer for any team to consider. Continue reading →

Trade deadline acquisitions are often best evaluated farther down the line. Especially when you consider the player-for-picks culture of the NHL these days, scoring the return on Deadline Day trades is often an interesting task.

However, Darcy Regier pulled off quite a doozy on Monday afternoon that left him as the perceived deadline winner amongst a great many fans and experts. Buffalo’s acquisition of Cody Hodgson and Alexander Sulzer for Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani was a true hockey trade that should address needs for both teams. Which team won the trade? That is a far more difficult question to address.

Frankly, this strikes me as a pretty even exchange of talent. Mainly because each team acquired a young, highly touted prospect who has traits desperately needed by the team acquiring the player. Vancouver gets a (sometimes) tough winger who can score goals and is willing to drop the gloves. They also get an upcoming RFA defenseman with strong offensive skills. The Canucks wanted to get some more grit and saw Kassian as the answer. If they can mentor him properly, I have little doubt his mean streak will come out.

On the Buffalo end, this trade did two things. First, it moved a defenseman who was stuck on the depth chart and that likely would have received another one-way tender in the offseason. Gragnani wasn’t contributing, it appeared that he was growing frustrated with the team and was blocking the pipeline for other young defensive prospects (McNabb, Brennan, Pysyk, JGL). By acquiring Sulzer, the Sabres get a player that has a bit more defensive responsibility and who has an expiring deal in July. Sulzer isn’t likely to be re-signed as there are far too many promising defensemen waiting to be promoted from Rochester.

Basically, the exchange of Gragnani for Sulzer is a proactive salary dump for Regier. He saves himself the need to tender Gragnani in the summer, while providing an adequate NHL defenseman for the remainder of this season. Now one of Buffalo’s prospects will be in line to step into the sixth or seventh defenseman role next year.

Acquiring Hodgson is obviously the biggest story for the Sabres. He is a skilled centerman with a ceiling of being a top-flight pivot for this team for years to come. His cap hit is minuscule up through next summer and is only expected to get better. Regier acknowledged that he has other players capable of providing the jam that Kassian brings to the table and Regier also likely realized that he didn’t have any players with the skill and potential that Hodgson brings to the center position.

The acquisition of Hodgson makes the Sabres a better team now and down the line. Last night’s debut left Hodgson pointless, but you could see the creativity and offense in his game. Hodgson’s arrival not only gives Lindy Ruff another viable option at center. It also signifies a systematic shift to the “core” of the team. Continue reading →