Ex-Caps forward and current gentle sweetheart, Marcus Johansson, is now a Minnesota Wild… err, a member of the Wild. A Wildling? I don’t know. Anyway, now he’s wilding out.
(P.S. he was on the Buffalo Sabres before, in case you, like me, forgot.)
Going to Buffalo will be forward Eric Staal, who has never played for the Capitals as far as I can tell.
From Star Tribune Sports reporter Sarah McLellan:
#mnwild is trading Eric Staal to the #Sabres for Marcus Johansson, per source.
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) September 16, 2020
Staal, 35, has played most of his career for Carolina, but recently was with the Rangers and Wild. Despite his age, he’s still playing top-six minutes and enters the final year of his deal next season. Johansson, 29, also has one year left on his $4.5 M contract and scored 30 points in 60 games for Buffalo last season.
This is a curious trade. Micah Blake McCurdy of HockeyViz chimes in:
Marcus Johansson (to Minnesota) is an above average forward at 5v5 with a good penalty differential who should probably be kept away from the power-play. Eric Staal (to Buffalo in return) is a better shooter with some PP upside, with shot impacts closer to average. pic.twitter.com/eRoXYFI7Qj
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) September 16, 2020
Update, 5:57 PM: Staal, just like us, is stunned by this trade.
Staal found out about the trade 10 minutes ago. Said to be stunned.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) September 16, 2020
Headline photo: NHL
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