Kane, Bogosian dealt to Sabres for Myers, Stafford and prospects

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This article was published 11/02/2015 (3928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Two players once considered cornerstones of the Winnipeg Jets’ future success are gone from the organization.

This morning, the Jets traded forward Evander Kane and defenceman Zach Bogosian to the Buffalo Sabres in a massive NHL deal.

The Jets received immediate help in return, acquiring blueliner Tyler Myers and forward Drew Stafford. The Jets also got prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux and one of the Sabres’ later first-round picks in this summer’s NHL entry draft.

The Jets will also surrender to Buffalo the rights to goalie Jason Kasdorf, who is from Winnipeg.

Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who orchestrated the deal with Buffalo GM Tim Murray, spoke at a noon-hour press conference, just hours before the club heads to Nashville for a game Thursday against the Predators.

“I’d like to thank Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf for all their contributions to the organization,” Cheveldayoff said.

“This was not a knee-jerk reaction. Having a deal come together like this… is very difficult,” he said.

“From our standpoint, I’m excited what this trade brings to our organization. At end of the day it is a big deal, but I think it’s something that helps us in the short term and the long term.

“The important pieces are Tyler Myers and the ceiling in his game, and Drew Stafford coming in, we need help at forward.

“But we always have the eye to the future.”

Cheveldayoff said there was strong interest from a number of clubs for Kane’s services.

He said Murray was extremely aggressive in getting a deal done.

“Hats off to Tim,” for working hard to get it done,” Cheveldayoff said.

Kane had shoulder surgery last week and is sidelined for the rest of the season. That put the capper on a tumultuous week for the speedy forward and the hockey club.

He was scratched just prior to the Jets-Vancouver Canucks game on Tuesday, Feb. 3, something Paul Maurice said was a “coach’s decision.” But reports suggested a locker room incident was to blame for Kane’s absence.

It’s believed Kane arrived at the rink in a track suit, against team policy, and his clothes were dumped into a tub of water by teammate Dustin Byfuglien, prompting Kane to leave the arena and not return and miss the game in his home town.

Kane was then placed on the injured-reserve just days before the surgery. He had 10 goals and 12 assists in 37 games this season, while playing on the third line much of the time.

Cheveldayoff was asked whether the deal was made to rid the club of a problem player.

“Those things are obviously things that transpired, we will keep those in-house,” he said. “This was a situation where we looked to address something now and to the future. You factor in a lot of things when you make a deal of this magnitude. This is something to strengthen our franchise now and in the years to come.”

Bogosian, meanwhile, has battled injuries in four years with the Jets but was a critical member of the Jets top-4 on the blue line. The former first-round draft pick (third overall in 2008) had three goals and 10 assists in 41 games this season for Winnipeg.

Cheveldayoff admitted letting Bogosian go was tough.

“When you’re crafting a deal this big, value has to go both ways. It was difficult to put Bogosian in this trade,” he said.

Kasdorf played with the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and is now in his third season of U.S. college hockey with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

So what are the Jets getting in return?

Myers is a monster at 6’8″, 220 pounds, shoots right and has four goals and nine assists, similar statistics to Bogosian this season.

Cheveldayoff said Myers, 25, is still a young player, but with a tremendous foundation, and can log a lot of minutes. “A fresh starts can be welcome… he has huge upside.”

Stafford plays right wing and has nine goals and 15 assists.

He is “a player who’s looking to grow and we think this could be that place,” said Cheveldayoff.

Winnipeg also gets a couple of top prospects in Armia and Lemieux, and a first-round pick — the lowest of three Buffalo owns for this summer’s draft.

Armia is 21 years old and hails from Finland. He was drafted by the Sabres in the first round (16th overall) in 2011 and has 25 points in 33 games for the Sabres’ AHL club in Rochester.

Lemieux is still in junior with the Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League. He’s a second-round pick in last year’s draft, registering 35 goals this season with the Colts in 46 games.

He’s the son of former NHLer Claude Lemieux, who won Stanley Cups with three different teams.