By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist

No. 54: February 11, 2015 – The Sabres trade Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, the rights to Brendan Lemieux and a first-round draft choice in 2015 (Jack Roslovic) to Winnipeg for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf.

The Sabres had accumulated some assets for the future in 2015 as part of a massive rebuilding program. They wanted to improve their roster for the future, but not hurt their chances of getting the No. 1 overall draft choice. That’s a tricky process, but general manager Tim Murray tried to reach that goal with a big trade with Winnipeg.

Evander Kane was a big, tough forward with a scoring touch. He also came with some baggage in terms of his relationship with the team and the town. Kane also was out for the season because of an injury, so he wouldn’t help the Sabres down the stretch. In the topsy-turvy season, this was a plus.

The price was high. Tyler Myers had been the NHL’s rookie of the year, and Buffalo had unfulfilled hopes he’d be the next Zdeno Chara. Meanwhile, some of those accumulated assets were included. Kane didn’t work out too well in Buffalo either, and was dealt to San Jose. But Bogosian remains a regular defenseman. Myers has played well for the Jets, who can’t complain too much about the deal.

(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

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