The Minnesota Wild have made a one-for-one swap of centers with the Buffalo Sabres, sending a fan favorite in Eric Staal back to the state of New York in exchange for 29-year-old Swedish center Marcus Johansson, per Darren Dreger of TSN.
The trade came as a shock Wednesday afternoon, as Bill Guerin continued to put his stamp on this team going forward and it seems he is targeting younger and faster players.
According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, it was a shock to Staal that he was traded, finding out only 10 minutes before Dreger broke the news on Twitter.