Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller has been traded to the St. Louis Blues and this deal comes after weeks of speculation and the team acquired the goaltender along with captain Steve Ott and in return the Sabres got Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, William Carrier, along with draft picks in 2015 and 2016.
According to ESPN.com, the Blues acquired Miller in a blockbuster deal and St. Louis was considered one of the most likely destinations, as Halak had been disappointing this season and the team ranked in the bottom half of the league in goals against average.The Blues sent a 2015 first round pick and a 2016 third round pick in the deal and now they have one of the top goaltenders in the league as they try to make a Stanley Cup run as one of the best teams in the western conference.
The Buffalo Sabres were considered to be a team selling at the NHL trading deadline since they are rebuilding their team and this deal comes months after they traded Thomas Vanek to the Islanders for Matt Moulson. The Blues have had high expectations coming into the playoffs the past two seasons and they have been beaten by the Los Angeles Kings each of those times and now they have Miller taking over the starting job.
The Blues are battling with the Chicago Blackhawks in the central division and now they add Miller, who has a 5-22-3 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage for a bad Buffalo team. Miller has nearly 300 wins in his career and now Ott moves to the Blues as well and that takes two of the most popular Sabres players away from the team. Ott previously was with the Stars and he was traded to the Sabres in 2012 and he had 18 goals and 26 assists in 107 games for the Sabres and he will make a big impact as well.
Stewart was considered a possible target for the New York Rangers in a trade and now he moves to the Sabres after previously playing for the Avalanche. Stewart had 15 goals this season and 36 points with the Blues in 58 games and now he joins Halak, who put together a 24-9-4 record this season with a solid 2.23 GAA, a .917 save percentage. The deal is the first major move of the NHL trade deadline.
