Hodgson for Kassian, and More

			2011/2012 Stats				2012	July 1st Details
To Buffalo	Pos	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Cody Hodgson	F	22	63	16	17	33	$1.7m	1	$1.7m
Alex Sulzer	D	27	12	0	1	1	$700k	0	UFA
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To Vancouver	Pos	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Zack Kassian	F	21	27	3	4	7	$900k	1	$900k
Marc-Andre Gragnani	D	24	44	1	11	12	$550k	0	RFA

If you believe the folks at TSN, this is the headline deal of the 2012 trade deadline, as the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres swapped high profile prospects/roster players and minor defensemen.  Scoring rookie Cody Hodgson goes to Buffalo for bruising winger Zack Kassian, plus a couple of defensemen, who have had some potential, but have yet to realize it in the NHL.

In Hodgson, the Sabres get an emerging top six centre, who has the ability to be a top centre for the Sabres down the road.  Hodgson has drastically improved his size and his play in the 2012 year, which makes this deal into a little bit of a shock.  This deal will give the Sabres a little bit more flexibility, if they are not going to be a playoff team, they'll be a team that can make some moves in the Summer and they can build around a kid like Hodgson.

Going the other way, Kassian will provide size, speed and some serious physical play to the Canucks, something the Canucks can certainly use in the playoffs.  If you throw Kassian on the 3rd line with newly-acquired Samuel Pahlsson, there is something brewing with this team, which should make them much more difficult to play against.  Kassian does have 2nd line upside, even as a banger and crasher, he could potentially see some time with the twins on the top line too.

Two players involved in this deal feature in the pools, one is a draft player, that being Hodgson. Wes M., another one of his player dealt on the deadline.  Wes is in 20th in the standings and moving Hodgson to the Sabres, who are not a good scoring team, will likely only hurt his pool team going forward.

The other player in the pools is Gragnani, who is a Box 30 defenseman on the selection sheet and hasn't seen a great amount of time with the Sabres.