BUFFALO – The Sabres traded defenseman Marco Scandella to the Montreal Canadiens tonight for a fourth-round pick in 2020.
Update: The Sabres have traded the selection they received from Montreal to the Calgary Flames for forward Michael Frolik.
Scandella, a Montreal native, will be an unrestricted free agent following the season.
The Sabres and Canadiens, of course, rarely make trades. Right now, the sixth-place Sabres trail their Atlantic Division rival by one point.
Scandella, 29, has compiled three goals, nine points and a plus-9 rating in 31 games this season. He has a $4 million salary cap hit.
The Sabres, who host the Edmonton Oilers tonight, have had a surfeit of defensemen all season. Two have been sitting out some games. Sabres coach Ralph Krueger has also regularly dressed a seventh defender.
Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was expected to parlay one of those extra defensemen into a forward. The Sabres, who have lost four straight games, sorely need help up front.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Frolik, 31, has compiled five goals, 10 points and a minus-10 rating in 38 contests with the Flames this season. The Czech has scored 158 goals and 380 points in 831 career outings over 12 seasons.
Frolik won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. He’s in the final season of a five-year contract and has a $4.3 million cap hit.
The Florida Panthers drafted Frolik sixth overall in 2006.
