Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella Traded to Sabres for Tyler Ennis, More

The Buffalo Sabres announced Friday the acquisition of defenseman Marco Scandella and winger Jason Pominville from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno.

As part of the deal, the Sabres will also send a 2018 third-round draft pick to Minnesota, while the Wild parted with a 2018 fourth-round selection.

Buffalo added a strong, stay-at-home defenseman in Scandella as part of a concerted effort to reshape the blue line this offseason.

Scandella figures to play alongside the offensively gifted Rasmus Ristolainen on the Sabres' first pairing, and Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550 in Buffalo is of the belief that he is a better option than anything the team could have gotten on the open market:

While the 27-year-old Scandella produced a modest 13 points last season and a minus-two rating, he was a plus player in each of the previous three seasons.

The 34-year-old Pominville spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Sabres before getting traded to Minnesota in 2012-13.

He is a three-time 30-goal scorer who registered 13 goals and 47 points last season.

Ennis is a dynamic playmaker when healthy, but the 27-year-old has appeared in just 74 games over the past two seasons combined.

In 2016-17, Ennis struggled to the tune of 13 points in 51 contests.

Foligno scored a career-high 13 goals and 23 points last season, and the gritty 25-year-old is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason.

From a salary perspective, Scandella has a cap hit of $4 million over the next three seasons, while Pominville will account for $5.6 million annually for two more years.

Also, Ennis has a cap hit of $4.6 million over the next two campaigns, per NHL Numbers.

The trade marks the first significant move for new Sabres general manager Jason Botterill, who is looking to lead Buffalo to the playoffs for the first time since 2010-11.