BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Florida Panthers addressed losing Aaron Ekblad to a season-ending injury by acquiring
For Buffalo, the last-place Sabres continued selling off assets by acquiring a third-round draft pick in what is not expected to be their final move before the NHL’s trade deadline on Monday. The Sabres traded veteran Eric Staal to Montreal last month, and are in negotiations to trade forward Taylor Hall, who is completing a one-year, $8 million contract.
At 9-25-6, Buffalo is all but mathematically out of contention, and in position to match the NHL playoff drought record of 10 seasons.
Montour is a pending unrestricted free-agent completing a one-year, $3.85 million contract.
The Panthers add a two-way
“Brings some puck-moving ability on the back end,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Montour. “He’s mobile, could get some power-play time.”
The trade was announced as Florida took the ice to play at Dallas and with the Panthers in a tight race for first place in the Central Division standings.
Florida fell from first place to a tie with Tampa Bay for second after back-to-back losses to Carolina this week.
“Brandon is a capable and talented right-shot
The Panthers opened salary cap space on Thursday in a trade that sent forward Brett Connolly and
Montour, who turns 27 on Sunday, is in his fifth NHL season and has been with Buffalo since the Sabres acquired him from Anaheim on Feb. 24, 2019. He has five goals — four coming in his last seven games — and 14 points in 38 games this season.
Overall, the 2014 second-round draft pick has 29 goals and 76 assists for 105 points in 281 career games.
"He’s a very skilled
Sabres interim coach Don Granato praised Montour for not allowing trade discussions to affect his performance over the past few weeks.
“Through this, Brandon was incredible. He played hard last night. He kept this out of his mind when the puck dropped,” said Granato, referring to the Sabres' 4-3 loss to Washington on Friday.
“He was a lot of fun to be around. He’s competitive. Brings a lot of energy, a lot of life,” Granato added. “Of course, you don’t like losing guys like that, but we all understand and it’s part of our game."
NOTES: Granato said barring a setback, rookie
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and freelance reporter Jeff Miller contributed.
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John Wawrow, The Associated Press