Trade: Ryan O'Reilly to St Louis Blues

[WildCard]

And like Colorado, I hope we see a similar jump in the standings after expunging the locker room cancer that is Ryan O'Reilly. Wait, Colorado missed the playoffs 3 straight seasons after trading him? Oh....

I can't do 3 more years of no playoffs. At that point we'll be in a Bills' drought. Seriously 

[slugspirit]

They would have been affordable even if we'd paid ROR's bonus. It made no difference. That money we paid counts against St. Louis's cap.

I was just looking at it from a cash flow perspective.

[WildCard]

But 22-24 year olds are in most teams 'rebuild window' in todays sports leagues, very few teams in any league are dumping anyone in their early 20's to help a rebuild, Older veterans are moved for picks/prospects

 

I wouldn't use anything that Sabres front office has done recently as examples of good move or moves that will be repeated.

I just have such a hard time believing we're seriously going to pick 3 times in the first round next year. That is just insane to me, and not in a good way

[3putt]

Trade him too for a 1st rounder in 2032 and some bad contracts.

Yes more cap dumps. Love me some cap dumps. Yummy. Hey how about Seabrooke he signed through the next millenium?

[Doohicksie]

https://twitter.com/martybiron43/status/1013606383726612480?s=21

 

I agree with Marty. I think there may be some overvaluation here to amplify any disappointment.

 

I :wub:  Marty.

[WildCard]

Just use the freaking picks.  They will likely be a top 5 a top 20 and a top 28.  Take 3 good players.  We still have no high end wing prospects in our entire system.  Yes I'm aware of Nylander, he sucks.

Has Botterill shown any ability to draft well thus far anyways? Do we even trust him with those picks?

[apuszczalowski]

People don't throw away two 1st round picks. It's not like we're anchoring Okposo to them

They do when they are late 1st, like TM sending one to Ottawa for a Goaltender?

[WildCard]

They do when they are late 1st, like TM sending one to Ottawa for a Goaltender?

Well Tim Murray was a moron so I guess we should start calling Benning, Chiarelli, and Bergevin then

[Doohicksie]

The Sabres saved $7.5M in overall spending money today by getting rid of ROR's bonus. They brought in close to the same amount in salaries in the trade.

 

But those salaries and the ROR bonus come from totally different ledgers.

[slugspirit]

That what are you talking about? It's pennies to TPegs.

It's not nothing. I'm sure the Pegulas have a set amount of millions they want to pay to see the Sabres finish in 10th place this year.

[apuszczalowski]

Yup. Didn't he have 0 penalty minutes last year? "I'm just skating around out there" See ya! Good job jbot, get what you can and move on.

 

For the angry folks - think Las Vegas. It's about the team.

Give us another example, or are we supposed to expect a turn around based on 1 team exceeding every expectation in one season..........

[dudacek]

He clearly didn't want to raise the asking price. He wanted O'Reilly gone...

Just like Colorado...

I think this is just JB fronting. Same thing when he says ROR's age was a factor.

This and this.

Whatever the reason, it’s pretty obvious this was addition by subtraction as far as JBot was concerned and all he was doing was trying to maximize the return.

 

Too bad he failed on that point.

 

I do wonder if he has anything else up his sleeve. We need it.

Edited July 2, 2018 by dudacek

[dejeanerret]

So if you trade out Parayko for Thompson In this deal is their a more favorable reaction for Sabres fans?

Edited July 2, 2018 by dejeanerret

[TrueBlueGED]

I think O’Reilly has been the best player on the worst team in the NHL the past three years and I am not happy with the return.

 

However, I do think the Sabres will be better next year, like the Avalanche and for similar reasons.

It starts with O’Reilly —> Duchene and moves to Eichel —> Mackinnon

 

I don’t know if Lehner, Kane and O’Reilly were the problems with this team, but I’m pretty sure there was a black cloud of some sort and that Botterill has made the moves he’s made in order to clear it. Maybe we’ve discovered who was “uncoachable.”

 

The dressing room has been turned over and the keys are in the hands of five pretty talented young men in Rasmus, Rasmus, Sam, Jack and Casey.

 

As far as I’m concerned Botterill has not done enough to improve the talent level of this team, but I do believe that chemistry is a thing and that attitude is important. He’s ripped off the bandaid and it hurts.

 

Only time will tell if he’s applying the right treatment, or if we’d are in for an extended bleed.

 

If O'Reilly sulked in the locker room and that actually helped crater the team on the ice...do we really think the remaining pieces have the mental toughness to fight through adversity? I don't really believe in this stuff impacting performance on the ice, but even if I did, this still wouldn't make me feel better. A moody teammate in the locker room sinks the team despite playing great on the ice? Talk about some mental weakness...

[Doohicksie]

It's worth pointing out again -- literally no one was raving about how much they loved ROR during the season.  But suddenly he became the god of 2-way centers when he threw a temper tantrum on locker clean-out day.

 

And if the guy was openly being a PITA in the room, he had to go.  Enough already.

 

Yep.

 

I was aghast when the Bills got rid of Sammy Watkins.  And the Bills turned out okay.

[WildCard]

Give us another example, or are we supposed to expect a turn around based on 1 team exceeding every expectation in one season..........

Liecester, the Mighty Ducks, the 1969 Mets

 

  I do wonder if he has anything else up his sleeve.

He better

[dejeanerret]

Rutherford in Pittsburgh is doing some pretty dumb stuff but yes calling all those people is a good idea. Keep calling.

How about Benning in Vancouver. He’s handing out millions to players with Girgenson stats

[WildCard]

Rutherford in Pittsburgh is doing some pretty dumb stuff but yes calling all those people is a good idea.  Keep calling.

This is very true

[Darryl Shannon's +/-]

If O'Reilly sulked in the locker room and that actually helped crater the team on the ice...do we really think the remaining pieces have the mental toughness to fight through adversity? I don't really believe in this stuff impacting performance on the ice, but even if I did, this still wouldn't make me feel better. A moody teammate in the locker room sinks the team despite playing great on the ice? Talk about some mental weakness...

The 05-06 sabres took pride in getting rid of Miro. So it might matter a bit, but yes, you still need talent to win.

[Randall Flagg]

Botterill's coach gave ROR 32 defensive zone starts per 60 minutes, when Bergeron is the only player to score more than a few points and touch 30 in that stat since it was recorded, and never touched 31. ROR is as dominant in that record as one can be in a rate stat. He also is a lead PKer. 

ROR responds with suppressed even strength production in this role, despite every underlying metric suggesting it was actually his strongest even strength performance as a Sabre. His PDO was in the 96es because of his usage. Despite the suppressed even strength results, he was a 61 point center with excellent two-way play, routinely outperforming every teammate in the toughest role and still elevating the play of literally every player to touch the ice with him. 

Any predictive stat in the world will tell you that his production stands to increase FROM 61 POINTS with different usage, AND THEN AGAIN with better linemates. 

If you have to trade a guy because of off-ice stuff, whatever. I might not agree it's as big a problem, but whatever. 

Don't artificially suppress his value for months on end for no reason when no good team has any 2nd best offensive player relied upon as such. 

 

Let's be clear. Berglund is a guy Blues fans have been hoping to ditch since before his most recent contract, which they f*cking hated. Sobotka, a great defensive forward until this past season, is firmly in cap-dump territory. They're bodies in the same way that Okposo is a body. Go back, watch any game, and tell me what this team needs is an Okposo on every single line. Do it. Actually don't, because I will punch you in your mouth.

 

If ROR is a dollar, we traded him for two quarters, a dime, and two anti-nickels. We took two cap dumps and didn't get an unprotected first OR a top FIVE St. Louis Bules prospect. Whatever way you turn this, this deal is stupid and the trail of sh!t that led to this mountain of festering, rotting garbage return has been called out and criticized by people with actual f*cking day jobs and lives apart from this hobby for the last 10 f*cking months. 

In the last 5 years, there were 5 last place finishers. Ttwo made the playoffs the season following their disaster. The other team accounted for the other 3 finishes. We are that team, and we decided that despite every other franchise building good hockey teams in reasonable time frames, we must extend our tank and our stank untold amounts of time in the future, while our coach with usage is just as as the last five, while our owner presides over a streak that is more than twice as bad as the franchise's previous worst. While our grandmothers sit back and wonder if they'll even get to see another playoff game (mine did today), while our teenage sisters are a wreck as I tell her about how we just traded the reason she started watching hockey and described what we got in return. 

Thank you Sabres? F*ck you Sabres.

[apuszczalowski]

I just have such a hard time believing we're seriously going to pick 3 times in the first round next year. That is just insane to me, and not in a good way

Why not, JBotts doesn't expect to win for a few more years.......

They can trade those picks for players, but its most likely to get you vetrans in the late 20-early 30 range which isn't in JBotts window.......

[TrueBlueGED]

I can't do 3 more years of no playoffs. At that point we'll be in a Bills' drought. Seriously 

 

Well, in the next 3 years I suppose we can compete for one of the two wild card spots. But we're probably not going to look better on paper than at least Toronto and Tampa. Maybe Boston, if Bergeron starts to age out.

 

 

So if you trade out Parayko for Thompson In this deal is their a more favorable reaction for Sabres fans?

 

I wouldn't have complained if we had traded O'Reilly for Parayko straight up, much less as part of a package. I'd be emotionally sad because I love O'Reilly as a player, but that would have been fair on-ice value.

[slugspirit]

How about Benning in Vancouver. He’s handing out millions to players with Girgenson stats

Hopefully building Z's trade value!

[LGR4GM]

Has Botterill shown any ability to draft well thus far anyways? Do we even trust him with those picks?

No, he hasn't shown the ability to draft well.

 

 

To be fair... we won't know though for a few years.

Edited July 2, 2018 by Skurk Liger

[jad1]

If O'Reilly sulked in the locker room and that actually helped crater the team on the ice...do we really think the remaining pieces have the mental toughness to fight through adversity? I don't really believe in this stuff impacting performance on the ice, but even if I did, this still wouldn't make me feel better. A moody teammate in the locker room sinks the team despite playing great on the ice? Talk about some mental weakness...

Makes you wonder about the coaching.  Dumping Kane and O'Reilly who accounted for 100 points on the ice because the coaching staff can't handle the mood in the locker room is not encouraging.