Former Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville will be returning to the team. The Sabres announced Friday they acquired Pominville and Marco Sandella from the Minnesota Wild's in a multi-deal trade. In return the Sabres traded Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. WBFO's Behind The Bench, Buffalo Sabres reporter Bill Hoppe tells us the Pominville for Sabres GM Jason Botterill
“And it’s a big one. People are going to look at the reacquisition a very popular Sabre from ten or so years ago who was part of the teams most successful recent run, a former captain of the team,” Hoppe remarked.
But Hoppe noted, while the trade of Pominville is somewhat of a surprise, that was not the case for trading out Ennis and Foligno.
“They’re the team’s two longest tenured players and with Ennis you figured he was going to move on. He’s been injured. He’s had a tough couple of years. He makes a lot of money. Foligno, that name is a little surprising me because he has been one of the more consistent forwards in the last year or so,” Hoppe noted. “The big piece of the trade is Defenseman Marc Sandella. The Sabres had to get another defenseman to chew up minutes to play on the top four. That was their biggest need. And then in Pominville, you’ve got a guy you can still play, who can still score some goals and a guy who can give them some veteran leadership.”
Pominville, 34, returns to Buffalo four years after he was traded by the Sabres to Minnesota.
Hoppe noted if Pominville is used "correctly" he could be an "asset" for the Sabres.
