The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to trade Brandon Montour to the Florida Panthers. The trade was first reported by David Pagnotta. Kevin Weekes has now added that Florida is sending a third-round pick in return.
Hearing Florida is acquiring D Brandon Montour from Buffalo
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) April 10, 2021
As per what I’m told the @BuffaloSabres are trading Montour to the @FlaPanthers for a 3rd Rd pick.@NHL @NHLNetwork #HockeyTwitter
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) April 10, 2021
Buffalo Sabres Trade Brandon Montour to Florida Panthers
The Buffalo Sabres completed a trade Saturday with the Panthers, sending much-needed defensive depth to Florida in the form of Brandon Montour.
Key Players
In Brandon Montour, the Panthers get a solid depth defenceman who can consistently shoulder over 20 minutes of ice time. This season has not been Montour’s best, although Sabres’ overarching struggles are likely contributing to his performance. He scored two goals and eight assists for 10 points through 32 games, adding 22 minutes in penalties. He has a 47.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -0.8. Montour’s production has declined in comparison to last season – in 2019-20, he recorded five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 54 games. However, his relative Corsi has improved slightly from -2.8.
Over his five-year NHL career, Montour has played for the Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres. In that time, he has 26 goals and 75 assists for 101 career points in 275 career games. He was originally drafted in the second round, 55th overall of the 2014 NHL draft by the Anaheim Ducks.
What This Means for the Future
With the Panthers, Montour will look to regain his pre-Sabres form. In his sophomore season, he displayed immense potential as an offensive defenceman, recording nine goals and 23 assists in 80 games. With a better team around him, Montour should be able to rediscover a similar scoring touch. Another intriguing skill Montour brings to the table is his power-play ability. He only scored one power-play goal with the Sabres, as they did not give him much time on the man advantage, but he netted five power-play goals during the 2017-18 season with the Ducks. Montour’s new team could potentially give him a shot on one of their units to try to revive his power-play production.
For the Sabres, the Montour trade marks the continuation of a rebuild. Buffalo currently sits at last in both the East Division and the NHL, so their main goal is to keep acquiring new players and prospects to build a stronger roster around existing young stars like centre Jack Eichel and defenceman Rasmus Dahlin.
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