It was a move that sent shockwaves around the NHL.

When Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff made his first NHL player for NHL player trade, it turned out to be a blockbuster.

That move — which brought defenceman Tyler Myers, forwards Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a first-round pick that turned into centre Jack Roslovic and sent defenceman Zach Bogosian, forward Evander Kane and the rights to college goalie Jason Kasdorf — was made one year ago.

It’s obvious that the two clubs were in very different places at the time of the trade.

The Sabres were going nowhere, other than bottoming out and finishing dead last in the standings.

The Jets, who had Wednesday off and will face the Boston Bruins at MTS Centre on Thursday before hitting the road for a four-game trip, were trying to make a playoff push and knew they would be without Kane for the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Kane needed a change and over time, it became clear that Bogosian was also ready for a change of scenery — though he was disappointed to leave the franchise that made him the third overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.

“Again, we addressed a situation that needed to be addressed at the time. We dug in and did it in the best fashion that we possibly could,” Cheveldayoff said earlier this week after Dustin Byfuglien was signed to a contract extension. “It’s addressing a lot of the different needs that we (had) then, now and going forward.”

The short term benefit was obvious, as Myers and Stafford were rejuvenated to join a team that was making a playoff push instead of one that essentially was going to the rink expecting to lose.

The Jets wouldn’t have made the playoffs without the contributions made by Stafford and Myers.

Stafford enjoyed the run so much that he decided to pass on unrestricted free agency to sign a two-year deal with the Jets that carries a cap hit of just over $4 million per season.

All Stafford, who signed a two-year deal stay with the Jets before becoming an unrestricted free agent, has done this season is lead the Jets in goals and he has 25 goals and 47 points in 75 games since joining the club.

Myers has been steady while playing on one of the top-two pairings and seeing ample time on special teams, chipping in eight goals and 34 points in 77 games.

“They’ve both been really big parts of our team,” said Jets centre Bryan Little. “Stafford is a veteran voice in the room, he’s so patient and poised out there and helps us a lot on offence. With Myers, there’s not a lot of players like him that are 6-foot-8 and can fly like him and quarterback a power play like he can.”

Myers reiterated how glad he is about how things have turned out.

“There had been rumours leading up to it, but when anything like that happens, there’s still a little bit of a shock element to it,” said Myers. “Obviously, I had never gone through that before, so there was an adjustment to be made. As soon as we got to the room, all the guys were really good and I’ve been very happy with my time in Winnipeg. I feel at home. It’s been a really good fit.”

The medium term is represented by Armia, who has only two goals and three points in 22 games with the Jets and is showing signs of figuring things out and demonstrating that he’s got the skill-set to be a solid NHL regular for years to come.

The future element of the trade comes in the form of Lemieux and Roslovic.

Lemieux is having another solid OHL season after being traded to the Windsor Spitfires and is set to turn pro next fall, while Rolsovic has been close to a point-per-game player during his freshman season with the University of Miami (Ohio).

Make no mistake, the Sabres are quite happy with what they got in return, though you can’t deny the fact the loss of Kane and Bogosian took away some of the Jets identity, in terms of being a team that was fast and incredibly tough to play against.

But even without the benefit of hindsight, this is a deal that Cheveldayoff doesn’t regret making and the Jets should be reaping the benefits for years to come.