In the month of August, as the news in the hockey world slows to a crawl, we will be taking a look at the most consequential deals in Buffalo Sabres history (using the Hockey News Archives as source material) and ranking the 15 best and the 15 worst deals in the club’s 54-year history.
This required the input of a trio of veteran media members (Dave Reichert, Randy Schultz, and Pete Weber), as well as three lifetime Sabre fans (Chuck Bender, Todd Riniolo, and Joe Schwartz).
12. February 26, 2018 – Buffalo acquires Danny O’Regan, a conditional 2019 first-round pick, and a 2019 fourth-round pick from the San Jose Sharks for Evander Kane
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The trade made by former GM Tim Murray in 2015 that brought winger Evander Kane, defenseman Zach Bogosian, and prospect Jason Kasdorf to Buffalo resulted in a situation that Jason Botterill was forced to clean up just three years later.
Kane had three 20-goal seasons with the Sabres, but his off-ice antics (skipping practice to go to the NBA All-Star game, getting arrested while out on the town during the 2016 NHL Draft) all but assured that the Sabres would not have interest in re-signing the 26-year-old. With his club headed to a last-place finish, Botterill looked to shop Kane as a deadline rental, and in late February he dealt him to San Jose for minor-league center Danny O’Regan, a conditional 2019 first-round pick, and a 2019 fourth-round pick.
O’Regan had played four years at Boston University and scored 58 points as a rookie with the AHL San Jose Barracudas, but had struggled in a brief 19-game NHL stint with the Sharks. Following the trade, he played only three games for the Sabres and mostly for AHL Rochester before signing as a free agent with the NY Rangers.
The conditional part of the deal was Kane re-signing with the Sharks (which he did after scoring 13 goals in 26 regular season and playoff games). The Sabres received the first-rounder and Botterill used it as part of a trade with Anaheim in February 2019 to acquire defenseman Brandon Montour. Montour struggled for parts of three seasons and was dealt to Florida for a third-round pick (Stiven Sardarian).
The fourth was flipped along with a sixth-rounder to Vancouver for a higher fourth-rounder used to select winger Aaron Huglen, who is entering his senior season at the University of Minnesota.
Kane followed up his strong finish in 2018 with seasons of 30, 26, and 22 goals before off-ice issues caused the Sharks to terminate his contract in 2022.
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