The Anaheim Ducks have agreed to trade Brandon Montour to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Brendan Guhle and a first-round pick that will either be the San Jose Sharks pick or the Ducks can choose the St. Louis Blues pick if it’s between 20-31.
First round pick and prospect Brendan Guhle going to Anaheim for Brandon Montour is my understanding
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 24, 2019
Anaheim Ducks Trade Brandon Montour to the Buffalo Sabres
Conditional pick details in Montour deal: #Ducks receive SJS 1st pick, or they have the option to select STL’s pick if it’s between #20 – #31.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 24, 2019
Key Players
In Brandon Montour, the Sabres get a fast, puck-moving, offensively minded defenseman. This season, he scored 5 goals and 20 assists for 25 points, adding 40 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 46.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 0.7. Those totals are down compared to last season, where he scored 9 goals, 23 assists for 32 points. Over his 3-year NHL career, Montour has only played for the Ducks. In that time, he has 16 goals and 47 assists for 63 career points in 169 career games. He was originally drafted in the second round, 55th overall of the 2014 NHL draft by the Ducks.
In Brendan Guhle, the Ducks get a good prospect who was projected to be a top-four defenseman coming out of the draft 2015 NHL draft where he was drafted in the second round, 51st overall. Guhle is a good, solid defenseman with a good hockey IQ and good passing skills. Guhle has only played in 23 NHL games and has 5 assists for 5 points. With the Rochester Americans, Guhle has scored 5 goals and 22 assists for 27 points, adding 34 minutes in penalties. In his career with the Americans, Guhle has scored 15 goals and 44 assists for 59 points.
TRADE: We’ve acquired defenseman Brandon Montour from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Brendan Guhle and a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. pic.twitter.com/2JRu2Mq98m
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) February 25, 2019
What This Means for the Future
Montour will slot into the top pairing with Rasmus Ristolainen which will move Marco Scandella down to the last pairing where he belongs because of the terrible season he is having. This will be another huge puzzle piece for the Sabres to build a contender and possibly make the playoffs this season.
Brandon Montour will help take pressure off of Ristolainen and help be a “quarterback” on the powerplay. This move is huge for Buffalo as they have been linked to Montour for the past three years it seems but could never get a deal done.
For Anaheim, this trade continues the dumpster fire of a season that they are having. Anaheim is one of the worst teams in the league and is on the path towards blowing everything up and starting over.
Anaheim gets a good prospect in Guhle who is having a down year defensively, but a change of scenery may be just what needs. Guhle will likely get some NHL minutes this season with the struggling Ducks to see what he can do.
All in all, this is a great trade for both sides and hopefully, Montour can help propel the Sabres to the playoffs or at the very least be a huge piece into turning them into a perennial contender.
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