WhatTheDuck
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C Adam Henrique (4 years at 5.83M)
RD Colin Miller (2 years at 3.88M)
RD Oskari Laaksonen
Part of the premise behind this deal is the belief that the Sabres are more motivated to compete for the playoffs in the next couple seasons than the Ducks, who are in a retooling phase.
In Henrique the Sabres are receiving a player who would be their second best center behind Eichel at the present time. It's an area they need to shore up if they'd like to improve immediately. He's on his way to another 25 goal year and a 7th straight 40+ point season. They give up Miller who I believe has not worked out and is part of a RD logjam, a good prospect who would also become part of said logjam, and take on slighty less than 2M in cap for the next two seasons. The downside of course is that they also have Henrique for two additional years and his contract won't look good if his play takes a tumble.
The last part would be a motivator for the Ducks for sure. They get some immediate salary relief but more importantly rid the possibility of a problem contract a couple years down the line, which makes sense when he isn't helping you compete now. Miller isn't completely without intrigue as a buy low guy, and would have a much better chance of getting the offensive usage he needs to bounce back on a team that gets very little offense from its back end. In Laaksonen I tried to choose a prospect who represents a need for the Ducks system, seems to have enough upside to close some of the gap between Henrique and Miller, yet doesn't seem like he'd be someone Buffalo couldn't part with.
Henrique submits a 10 team no trade list if asked to waive his NTC. His family farm is about 1 hour and 40 mins drive from Buffalo, so it's possible he'd like the idea of playing close to home
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