Buffalo Sabres‘ 2nd year left wing Alex Guptill(26) was acquired in a 7-player minor league swap from Ottawa Senators.
It was the second trade for the big 6’3″ 200 lbs. power forward from University Of Michigan.
Initially a Dallas Stars‘ 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft (#77 overall) he skated only 5 games on an ato with affiliate Texas Stars after turning pro before being dished as a prospect on the opening day of free agency.
After his rookie season playing 61 AHL games with Binghamton Senators scoring 9 goals and 9 assists he was mostly a healthy scratch, passed over in the team’s lineup heading into his sophomore campaign.
Six weeks into 2015/2016 he was reassigned down to Evansville IceMen to continue his development but his time to impress seemed to be up, as he was loaned over to Manchester Monarchs a couple of months later.
This was definitely the right move for the 24-year old, as he started to bloom on the score sheet grabbing 5 goals and 5 assists in 14 ECHL games before once again moving on.
Reassigned to farm team Rochester Americans he finally seemed to connect with his surroundings.
In 20 games he notched 3 goals and 5 assists with a +3 rating on a non-playoff contending squad.
With his two-year entry level deal expiring, he is set to become a restricted free agent and it would probably be a low risk move for the Sabres to keep him in the system.