There was a time when trading Tyler Myers seemed preposterous, even if logic dictated it could happen.

The Calder Trophy winner in 2010, he lost his way through injuries and player turnover and the weight of a franchise player contract he was given as a kid. He had 85 points in his first 162 games as a pro; he had 65 in the next 203 games.

Still: Six-foot-eight. That skating ability. That shot. Those minutes he logged.

They don’t make them like Tyler Myers very often. What with the price of materials for a project that big …

But his time with the Buffalo Sabres ended on Wednesday, dealt to the Winnipeg Jets in a package, in an absolute blockbuster for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian.

“If you’re going to make a trade of this size, you have to give back,” said Sabres GM Tim Murray told WGR radio.

He said he was listening to offers on Myers, but not actively shopping him. The answer for every team inquiring was the same: Prepare to ante up, because Myers wasn’t coming cheaply.

“I never thought anything would come of it,” said Murray.

Then Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff came calling, asking for an offer for Kane, whose dramatic final chapter with the Jets was written last week.

“[Myers] became part of it right off the bat. It was a part that they needed in the trade. I’ve taken a lot of calls on Tyler, and never intended to trade him.”

Except for Kane, a controversial goal-scoring winger that Murray had wanted since his days in Ottawa.

Cheveldayoff knew he had to clear out Kane after he basically quit on the team – he told the media the deal was “in the best interests of the organization” – and knew there was a market for him despite season-ending shoulder surgery. To have Myers as the primary piece coming back was, equally, an opportunity he wouldn’t pass up.

“He’s a young defenseman. We talk about young players and draft picks. We talk about the foundation of a player and the ceiling of a player,” said Cheveldayoff.

“It’s a hard game to play for a young player. It’s an even harder game for a young defenseman.”

Just ask Bogosian, apparently.

Myers comes to a situation in Winnipeg that Cheveldayoff feels is ideal for him to recapture that star quality he had as a freshman and sophomore. The Jets’ defense is a deep group. The idea that Myers could form a pairing with Tobias Enstrom, the kind of veteran who can mind the store while Myers activates. Like Henrik Tallinder was for him with Buffalo. Having him work with assistant coach Charlie Huddy can only be a good thing, too.

Cheveldayoff talked a lot about Myers’ ceiling, which is understandable when dealing with a player whose head grazes it on a daily basis. Metaphorically, however, it comes down to this: What can Tyler Myers become in this league, and can the Jets bring it out of him?

“Sometimes in this game, fresh starts are really welcome to players that have lots of expectation’s heaped on them and lots of hype,” said Cheveldayoff.

That no doubt goes for the player he acquired, and the assets that he sent to Buffalo to acquire him.

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