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).
6. November 12, 1988 – Sabres acquire defenseman Doug Bodger and winger Darrin Shannon from the Pittsburgh Penguins for goalie Tom Barrasso and a 1990 third round pick.
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READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES TRADES
Best Trades In Sabres History – #7
Worst Trades In Sabres History – #7
Best Trades In Sabres History – #6
There are only a few players who have begun their NHL career with more acclaim than Tom Barrasso. The Buffalo Sabres selected him fifth overall in 1983 and the goaltender jumped from a Massachusetts high school straight to the NHL and won the Calder and Vezina Trophies before the age of 20, but the club declined during the latter years of Scotty Bowman’s tenure in Buffalo.
After five seasons of strained “relationships with teammates, fans, and reporters” and the presence of heir apparent Daren Puppa waiting in the wings, Sabres GM Gerry Meehan decided to trade the 23-year-old All-Star to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Doug Bodger and left winger Darrin Shannon.
According to Jim Kelley of the Hockey News, Meehan indicated that Barrasso’s reputation and fitting in with the team played a part in the trade.
Bodger was a 22-year-old defenseman with four years of NHL experience at the time of the trade and had posted consecutive 40+ point seasons playing with Mario Lemieux’s Penguins, while Shannon had been selected fourth overall in the 1988 Draft. In seven-plus seasons with Buffalo, Bodger had four more 40+ point seasons, but was traded to San Jose in 1995 and finishing his career in 2000.
Shannon never fulfilled his top-five promise, splitting time between AHL Rochester and the NHL the next two seasons before being traded to Winnipeg in 1991. He scored 20 goals twice for the Jets, but was out of the league before the age of 30.
Tom Barrasso has more career assists than any other goaltender and when you watch the sauce he serves up here, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
How do you like them apples?
(🎥@jmarshfof – Thank-you!)pic.twitter.com/ybjFCgbVno“
— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) August 26, 2024
Barrasso won consecutive Stanley Cups in the two seasons (1990 and 1991) following the trade and won 226 games with the Penguins over a dozen years with the Penguins before short stints in Ottawa, Carolina, Toronto, and St. Louis and retiring in 2003. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023.
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