Latest Buffalo Trade Similar To Best Trade In Team History

The latest move by the Buffalo Sabres is really similar to one that landed the team the best player in franchise history.

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Yesterday the Buffalo Sabres announced that they traded for goaltender Malcolm Subban from the Chicago Blackhawks. The last time the Sabres traded for a goalie from the Blackhawks, they landed the best player in Franchise history.

The year was 1992 and the Chicago Blackhawks were coming off a Stanley Cup appearance and already had a stellar goaltender in Ed Belfour and a solid backup in Jimmy Waite so they decided to trade their backup to the Buffalo Sabres. That player would be one mister Dominik Hasek.

Hasek would go on to be one of the best, if not the best, player in Buffalo Sabres History. During his stint with Buffalo from 1992 until 2001, Hasek would win six Vezina Trophies and take the Sabres to the Stanley Cup finals in the 1998-99 season.

So will Subban become the next Dominik Hasek? He could be. Both players were 27 years old when they were traded from Chicago to Buffalo. Both were coming to the Sabres as backup goaltenders. Many people forget that when the Sabres traded for Hasek, Grant Fuhr was still the Sabres #1 goaltender and Hasek was brought in to be his back-up.

Hasek got his shot to start the following season when Fuhr got injured. Hasek would take over in the middle of that season and would win his first Vezina Trophy in 1994.

So, the story for Malcolm Subban could be the same. He comes to Buffalo this season as a backup. He then becomes the starter next season and with all the young talent around him, he could take the Sabres to the Stanley Cup too.

Sabres fans can dream, can't we?