CHI - BUF Trade

[Trevor (Buf)]

Andrej Sustr
CHi 4th round 2015
for
Jared Spurgeon
Jujhar Khaira

Buffalo makes this trade to create roster flexibility as well as roster space. We're very excited to acquire Sustr as we like his offensive upside. He's also further along the developmental path than a typical dman coming out of junior, yet still has minor-eligibility, so that's a plus. He creates roster flexibility for Buffalo, of which we'd run out of.

Trading Jared Spurgeon was tough, as he was seeing solid minutes in Minnesota prior to his injury, but someone had to go to get the flexibility.

Khaira is traded to create roster space as I would have been over the max once my team finally got healthy again. The draft pick is a nice asset to have.

Thanks to Dave for the fun trade talks!

[Dave (Chi)]

Accept. More later.

Edit: from my perspective, Khaira and the 4th round pick are very inconsequential to this trade.  It's just something Buffalo needed, for roster flexibility.  I have seven picks in the top 2 rounds in 2015, so the 4th rounder likely would have been wasted anyways.  I can hold Khaira for a year, and see if he makes the jump to the AHL next year.   But if I lose him, no big deal.

For me, the key is Spurgeon.  For what it's worth, Dobber lists him as the 69th best D keeper in a points only format, which is similar to our pool.  He's 24 (versus 23 for Sustr).  While I like Sustr, I'm just not sure he'll be a top-4 guy, and TB has a lot of other options on the D end.  So while I do have concerns about Spurgeon being a bit under-sized, I'm willing to take that risk given that he has an excellent chance to remain in the top-4 in Minnesota.

This is one of those deals that I don't think Buffalo makes, save for the minor-eligibility factor on Sustr.  I believe these are the types of trades I need to look for, while I rebuild.

Of course, I'm sure I've just jinxed myself, and Sustr will turn into Chara, lol. 

But I'm willing to live with that risk.  No guts, go glory.

Good luck to Trevor in the playoffs.

[Trevor (Buf)]

Thanks again, Dave. I might need that luck!

From my perspective, and as Dave stated, it's not a trade that I wanted to make, but more like I had to make. Without moving a pro roster player, I would have had zero flexibility once players came off the IR.

If anyone has to make these sorts of trades, I refer you to Dave!