Blackhawks Acquire Nylander From Sabres for Jokiharju Brandon Share-Cohen The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired forward Alex Nylander from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defender Henri Jokiharju, the Blackhawks announced Tuesday. We have a trade to announce! Forward Alexander Nylander (AAV of $863,333) has been acquired from Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Henri Jokiharju. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9hQ4TfU9hz — Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 9, 2019 Both Nylander and Jokiharju were first-round selections in their respective draft classes with Nylander going eighth-overall to the Sabres in 2016 and Jokiharju going 29th overall the following Draft in 2017. For both teams, this feels like a reset of sorts. It isn’t the first time the Blackhawks have done this either as they acquired Brendan Perlini and Dylan Strome from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Nick Schmaltz just last season. The deal paid off early for the Blackhawks as Strome would finally reach his potential in Chicago after stifling in Arizona. The third-overall pick from 2015 would score only seven goals and 15 points in 48 games in Arizona over three seasons before scoring 17 goals and 51 points in just 58 games with the Blackhawks to close out the 2018-19 season. Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson pressures Buffalo Sabres right wing Alexander Nylander (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports) This deal feels similar on paper as Nylander, though still only 21 years old, has failed to create an impact at the AHL and NHL levels. In 19 total NHL games across three seasons, Nylander has only scored three goals and six points. He’s also only scored 30 goals and 86 points in 165 AHL games with the Rochester Americans in that same time frame. For the Blackhawks, this is another young forward with immensely high upside who seemingly needs a fresh start. Sabres Addressing Defense For the Sabres, a team looking to finally take the next step and become a playoff team, defense and goaltending have become the top priorities. This is why Jokiharju makes sense for them. At 20 years old, the Finnish-born, right-shot defender already has NHL potential and could immediately slot into the Sabres top-four next season. Henri Jokiharju (Dayna Fjord/Portland Winterhawks) As far as international play goes, Jokiharju has done nothing but turn heads for all the right reasons at the World Junior Championships and that evidently caught the eye of the Sabres brass. Additionally, Jokiharju split time between the Blackhawks and the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL last season, scoring 12 assists in 38 NHL games as well as two goals and 17 points in 30 NHL games. Jokiharju and Nylander Get Career Resets It’s interesting to see the Blackhawks move on from Jokiharju so soon, especially with how well he played for them in just his first professional season. He’s a smart player with all of the skills and tools needed to play at the NHL level against the best talent in the world but for some reason, he continually fell down the team’s depth chart on defense within the organization. For the Sabres, this was an opportunity to jump on a player with tremendous upside at a position of need. It may have cost them a player with high upside in his own right in Nylander, but this deal simply made sense from a value perspective. There will be fans on both sides of this deal shaking their head in disbelief that their respective teams moved on from players so early in their careers. There will also be fans happy with the player their team got in return. In the end, only time will tell who got the better player in this trade with there being a very real possibility that both teams won for different reasons. The post Blackhawks Acquire Nylander From Sabres for Jokiharju appeared first on The Hockey Writers. ...read more
This has gotta be put down as a big win for Buffalo. It can turn out well for Chicago if Nylander turns out to be close to the player he was drafted to be, but that is not a certainty. Meanwhile, suddenly * the Sabres D is a tremendous org. strength. (* Since June 2018 the team has added R. Dahlin, B. Montour, C. Miller, and H. Jokiharju along with solid draft prospects M. Samuelsson and R Johnson.) This D depth is going to enable the Sabres to address the team's need for scoring through trade when the opportunity presents itself. It also means that Buffalo will gain cap space with nearly $11.4MM coming off the books in one year (Z. Bogosian. M. Scandella, and M. Hunwick); their replacements are already cheap ELC's in Buffalo's pipeline chomping for their chance at the NHL. The Sabres will be next year's Panthers with about $30MM of cap space to invest in FA's and trades. They have the makings of a stout D and core pieces already in place at F. There's even a chance that the G of the future, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, may be ready to step up to the big time a soon as next year. That kind of money without any critical areas of need will put Jason Botterill in a very enviable position. My advice to everyone is that you all invest in Sabres gear now before everyone wants to jump on this bandwagon.
I hate this trade. I hate it more when you also consider we traded Kahun for Maata. Doesn't make much sense to me.
Stan was stoned the day he made the trade. That's my explanation. The Hawks do have a surplus of D prospects. But, a R shot D that has proven at age 19 that he can play in the NHL for a winger - not a C - with pedigree that has not yet proven to be an AHL star? Hmmm. Buffalo is becoming the team that every fan will think about when their team needs a defensive pick-me-up.
Yeah that's the kicker....he's a right handed shot. Because Bowman believes they grow on trees I guess.
