Breaking: Veteran NHL forward reportedly being sent to a rival team's AHL affiliate.

We have had a very curious move in the National Hockey League today. 

On Monday Buffalo Sabres veteran forward Matt Moulson made headlines when his 5 million dollar contract was shipped to the waiver wire by the Sabres, and now that transaction has resulted in another surprising move.

Moulson cleared the waiver process without a single NHL team placing a claim for him. Given his large salary and abysmal performance so far this season that doesn't come as a huge surprise but the next move by the Sabres does. 

The Sabres have demoted Moulson to the American Hockey League however they have not sent Moulson to their AHL affiliate. Instead he has been sent to the Ontario Reign, the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, and that has raised a lot of eyebrows around the league.

While this is purely speculation, this appears like a situation where the Sabres could be looking to make it easier for teams to scout Moulson as they look to trade him, a move they could only make while retaining a significant portion of his salary. 

With no goals and no assists in 14 games this season as well as a plus minus rating of -9 to go along with it, Moulson will not be fetching the Sabres a big return even if they do retain some salary. 

Just to be clear this is as of this writing not a trade, that fact has been confirmed by Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles times, but it certainly is an unusual move. 

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