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Analysis: Sabres trade F Matt Moulson to Wild

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In a last minute deal struck just moments before Wednesday's 3 P.M. EST NHL trade deadline, the Buffalo Sabres short-sold forward Matt Moulson along with grinder Cody McCormick to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Torrey Mitchell and a couple of draft picks.

From the Sabres perspective, anything they received in return for Moulson was just a bonus at this point. The Sabres originally acquired Moulson for Thomas Vanek, a conditional 2014 first-round pick, and a 2015 second-round pick in late October. 

The draft picks received in return for Moulson are undisclosed at the moment, but Michael Russo suspects that the Wild sent at least Winnipeg's second-round pick, which they'd acquired in the Devin Setoguchi trade, to Buffalo in the transaction. So it would appear that Buffalo's ultimate haul for Vanek is Torrey Mitchell and four draft picks (three of which are likely to fall in the first two rounds). That's massive.

The Wild, meanwhile, deal a fourth-line forward who had reportedly requested a trade recently, and two draft picks, in exchange for a player who will instantly provide them with additional offensive punch. That's something the Wild - who are 25th in the NHL in goals per game - could certainly use. 

Moulson is a goal scorer and a hugely underrated one. Between 2007 and 2013, Moulson scored 74 even-strength goals in nearly 4,500 minutes, good for 20th among NHL forwards in even-strength goal/60 rate. While Moulson wasn't exactly driving the bus offensive in New York, that's better than what Vanek managed over a similar time frame.

At the very least Moulson is likely an upgrade over the likes of Nino Niederreiter and Dany Heatley in the short-term, and improves the Wild appreciably at a reasonable cost.

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