The Buffalo Sabres have acquired D Colin Miller from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2021 2nd round pick and a 2022 5th round pick.
The Sabres were likely going to trade Rasmus Ristolainen, and here is a candidate to replace him. Miller was a healthy scratch sometimes this season, and overall came down to earth from a great first season in Vegas. He is entering his prime, and his $3.875 million cap hit for three more seasons isn\’t bad. He isn\’t a top pairing defenseman, but can play on the second pairing. The Sabres now have five right defenseman. Casey Nelson isn\’t a starter, but Miller, Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian and Brandon Montour are. Bogosian could also be dealt, as he has one more year left at over $5 million. But Ristolainen has been rumored to be on the market since last trade deadline, so he could be the one to go, though he is probably the best of the four mentioned above.
Miller, 26, scored three goals with 26 assists for 29 points in 65 games for the Golden Knights in 2018-19. In his NHL career for Vegas and the Boston Bruins, Miller has scored 22 goals with 77 assists for 99 points in 250 games.
The Golden Knights are in cap hell. They are now just under $900k over the salary cap, but they can put David Clarkson and his $5.25 cap hit on LTIR. That means they can go $5.25 million over the cap, but they still need to sign Nikita Gusev and Malcolm Subban. They could still free up more cap space to sign a minor free agent once free agency opens on July 1st.
CarterHud 