Chicago Blackhawks: Malcolm Subban is off to the Buffalo Sabres

The Chicago Blackhawks have a pretty set duo in net this year. Marc-Andre Fleury and Kevin Lankinen are the one and two as of now. We don’t know if they will keep Fleury all year long based on their playoff status but he is the guy right now. Because the one thing they have set is goaltending, that made Malcolm Subban expendable.

The Blackhawks decided to trade him to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday which is a very interesting transaction. The Sabres need goaltending so this makes sense for them in a year where they are just trying to get by.

The Sabres are giving the Blackhawks “future considerations” for Subban. Nobody ever really knows what that means but Chicago did Subban (and Buffalo) a solid by making this transaction. He hasn’t played a game in the NHL this year and should be afforded that opportunity now.

It is unfortunate that he never really worked out in Chicago (or in the NHL in general, yet). He was once a first-round pick with the Boston Bruins before making his way to the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas traded him to Chicago when they acquired Robin Lehner. We can only hope for him that he is able to play and play well in Buffalo.

The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Malcolm Subban to the Buffalo Sabres.

Malcolm Subban made 14 starts and had 16 total appearances in a Blackhawks uniform. In those games, he had a record of 6-8-1 with a .900 save percentage and 3.20 goals-against average. You would say that he is a slightly below-average goaltender. You probably aren’t winning the Stanley Cup with this guy but you aren’t in a horrid spot if he needs to make a start for you either.

As mentioned before, he hasn’t played in the NHL yet in 2021-22 with the Hawks having a log jam in the net. All he probably wants at this point is regular NHL playing time and he may get that with the Buffalo Sabres. They aren’t very good but it is better than nothing.