Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres have acquired defenseman Joe Cecconi from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Oskari Laaksonen. Neither player has ever played in the NHL.
The 25-year-old Cecconi is a local product from Youngstown. He played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, and is familiar with Tage Thompson and Casey Fitzgerald, as he won a gold medal with them at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Cecconi was a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2015. He played four years with the University at Michigan Wolverines before heading to the Texas Stars in 2019.
In 176 AHL games, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenseman scored four goals and 29 assists for 33 points.
Laaksonen was a defenseman that could play in the offensive zone, but was a defensive liability. In last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs, he was a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs because of his defense.
Laaksonen was a third-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. In three seasons with the Rochester Americans, he played 109 games, scoring seven goals and 46 assists for 53 points.
