Kings Give Away Three to Get Fuhr : Hockey: Sabres give up veteran goalie and two defensemen in exchange for Zhitnik, Huddy, Stauber.

The Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday traded goaltender Grant Fuhr and defensemen Philippe Boucher and Denis Tsygurov to the Kings for defensemen Alexei Zhitnik and Charlie Huddy and goaltender Robb Stauber.

The Sabres also acquired a fifth-round draft choice from the Kings in either 1995 or 1996.

Fuhr, acquired by the Sabres in a trade with Toronto three years ago, was the backup to Dominik Hasek, the league’s top goaltender last season.

Sabres coach John Muckler, who also coached Fuhr at Edmonton, said the deal will give Fuhr a chance to be a starting goalie again.

Muckler said after the deal was finalized Tuesday morning he spoke to Fuhr, who felt “a little bit of sadness, but he’s also happy for a chance to be a No. 1 goalie again.”

“I’ll get the opportunity to play again, which I wouldn’t have gotten here with Dom playing as well as he is,” said Fuhr, who played three games with the Sabres this season, posting a 4.0 goals-against average and a 1-2 record. His win came in the Sabres’ season opener in New York against the Stanley Cup champion Rangers.

With the Kings, Fuhr will be reunited with former Edmonton teammate Wayne Gretzky. Fuhr helped lead Edmonton to five Stanley Cups.

Fuhr helped carry the Sabres past the first round in the playoffs two years ago, but injuries and Hasek’s emergence as the dominant goalie kept him on the bench much of last season and this year.

The deal had been in the works since last summer, when Kings general manager Sam McMaster spoke to Muckler about whether Fuhr might be available, Muckler said at a news conference at the Sabres’ practice facility in Wheatfield.

Fuhr, 32, earning $1.6 million this year, was a likely candidate for a trade after the Sabres signed the 29-year-old Hasek to a three-year, $8 million contract.

Hasek said he was sorry to see Fuhr go, but said his departure would not affect his own game. “I like Grant Fuhr,” Hasek said. “I think we had a good two years. I will miss him.”

Zhitnik, 22, is in his third season in the NHL. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Zhitnik has played 11 games with Los Angeles this season, scoring two goals and adding five assists. Muckler said Zhitnik will help shore up the Sabres’ offensive power behind the blue line.

Stauber, 27, has played one game in goal for the Kings this season. Stauber, who starred for the University of Minnesota, won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s best player in 1988, but has been plagued by a series of injuries since turning professional.