The Buffalo Sabres acquired defenceman Marco Scandella, winger Jason Pominville and a 2018 fourth-round pick from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forwards Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno plus a 2018 third-round selection.
Both teams confirmed the deal Friday morning.
One of the Sabres’ off-season goals was to revamp their blue line and Scandella should easily slide into the team’s top-four. Sabres general manager Jason Botterill sent a third-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Nathan Beaulieu earlier this month.
Scandella has spent his entire career with the Wild after being selected in the second round (55th overall) in 2008. He had 13 points in 71 games this past season and averaged 18:20 of ice-time per game. The 27-year-old has three more years remaining on his contract with an annual salary cap hit of $4 million.
Pominville, 34, returns to the team he began his NHL career with. The former Sabres captain had 456 points in 578 games with the Sabres prior to being dealt to the Wild in 2013. Pominville has two years remaining on his contract, which comes with a lofty $5.6-million cap hit. He had 13 goals, 34 points in 78 games in 2016-17 and hasn’t hit the 20-goal mark in three seasons.
“I want to thank Jason and Marco for the effort, passion and character they showed during their time with our club,” Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said in a statement.
In addition to Scandella, the Wild boasted Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin and Mathew Dumba on the back end and rumours had been swirling for weeks that Fletcher was looking to trade a defenceman for depth at forward and Scandella was considered the likeliest candidate to be moved.
Foligno is a pending restricted free agent coming off a season where he set career highs in games played (80), goals (13) and shots on goal (97).
Ennis, a versatile forward with plenty of speed and skill when healthy, should fit in nicely with Minnesota’s current group of forwards. He has two years at $4.6 million AAV left on his deal. Ennis has only played 74 combined games in the past two seasons as he dealt with various injuries. He missed most of 2015-16 with concussion symptoms and missed a large chunk of the 2016-17 campaign after undergoing groin surgery in November.
