Trade: Capitals and Sabres strike deal on Day 2 of Draft.

There has been a very early trade on Day 2 of the National Hockey League entry Draft.

Just moments before the second round of the draft was officially set to get under way, the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres have come together to strike a deal. The Hockey News' Sammi Silber appeared to be the first with the story, reporting that the Capitals are sending 26 year old forward Beck Malenstyn to the Sabres in exchange for the Sabres' second round pick in the draft. 

Prior to making this deal the Sabres had two second round picks in this year's draft, their own and one acquired from the New Jersey Devils, and the one going to Washington in this deal is their own which is the 43rd overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. 

Malenstyn has 105 games of NHL experience under his belt in which he has recorded 8 goals and 16 assists for a total of 24 points, with the vast majority of that experience coming this past season where he had 6 goals and 15 assists for the Capitals over 81 regular season games. This represented a significant step up for Malenstyn who had never before played more than 12 NHL games in a single season, and it would seem that his play caught the notice of the Buffalo Sabres.

We will have to wait and see who pick #43 becomes, but even then it will be a long time before we can properly evaluate this trade deal.