It was never a matter of if the Buffalo Sabres were going to trade Chris Stewart. It was always a matter of when they were going to trade him, and where they were going to trade him.
Just before the NHL trade deadline on Monday, they sent him to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2017 second-round draft pick.
According to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun, Buffalo will retain half of Stewart's remaining salary.
Stewart, an unrestricted free agent after the season, is a complete wild card of a player and it is a complete roll of the dice as to which player the Wild are going to get over the remainder of the regular season (and playoffs if they get there). When he is at his best, he can score goals in bunches and put together stretches of play where he makes teams think he is going to realize the massive potential he had when he first came into the league.
When he is not doing that, however, he doesn't really bring much else to the table, which might explain why Buffalo was only able to get a second-round pick in 2017 for him and have to pay half of his remaining salary.
Stewart found out about the trade on live television when he was being interviewed on TSN.
In 61 games this season with the Sabres he has 11 goals and 18 assists. Buffalo acquired him last year as part of the trade that sent Ryan Miller to the St. Louis Blues.
