The Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets have confirmed the trade of left winger Eric Robinson for a conditional seventh round pick. The condition appears to be heavily weighted in the Sabres favor, with Buffalo only having to give up the seventh rounder they obtained in the trade of Rasmus Asplund to Nashville if Robinson features in 45 of the 56 games left this season.
The 28-year-old has featured just seven times for the Blue Jackets, scoring once in those games and was even waived earlier in the season. Robinson got 12 goals and 12 assists last season in 72 games, including a hat-trick against Buffalo.
Robinson signed with Columbus in 2018 as an non-drafted collegiate free agent from Princeton and has been there for seven years picking up 38 goals, 44 assists and 82 points in 266 games.
Quite why Buffalo have brought in the gritty forward isn’t very clear, given how little Robinson contributes to the offense that has been faltering for some time now, but the fans that have been claiming the Sabres are getting bullied and have been looking for more hitting should be very pleased.
That said, Robinson does possess speed and is usually the first player to enter the opponents zone in dump-ins.
The Sabres penalty-kill is much improved this season but with a number of key injuries amongst the forward corps, he should go right into the lineup with his shorthanded abilities, starting with tomorrow night in Boston.