On Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres traded defenseman Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario for a third-round pick in the 2021 National Hockey League Entry Draft according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN. The fact that the Panthers went out and acquired a defenseman is not a big surprise because recently Aaron Ekblad recently broke his leg, needed surgery, and is out for three months.
The Panthers become Montour’s third NHL team. In addition to 112 games over three seasons with the Sabres, Montour played 169 games over three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.
This was the second time that Montour was traded at the NHL deadline. On February 24, 2019, Montour was traded from the Ducks to the Sabres for a conditional first-round draft pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and defenseman Brendan Guhle of Edmonton, Alberta. The Ducks selected left winger Brayden Tracey of Calgary, Alberta.
Montour becomes the third Sabres player to be traded before the trade deadline. The others are goaltender Jonas Johansson, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Eric Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario, who was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. Staal won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
In 2020-21, Montour had five goals and nine assists for 14 points. He was a -13 with 24 penalty minutes, two shorthanded goals, one powerplay point, 72 shots on goal, 53 blocked shots, 35 hits, eight takeaways, and 10 giveaways.
The Panthers are currently in third place in the Central Division with 56 points. They are two points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.
