Trade: C Ryan McLeod - Oilers for Matt Savoie

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Krebs, iirc, was the center for Quin/JJP in Roc.

Playoffs, yes.  Regular season I believe Mersch, Biro and Malone all getting a turn. 

Edited July 9 by inkman

[triumph_communes]

Imagine if our PP wasn’t a tire fire anymore

 

McLeod doesn’t have a history on the PP at all either, which suppresses his numbers some 

[dudacek]

37 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Krebs, iirc, was the center for Quin/JJP in Roc.

Although maybe not on the PP

Yes, he centred them for a while at ES, but remember he only played something like 20 or 30 games including playoffs for Rochester and maybe only half of those with those 2.

I remember getting frustrated a bit with the line because he  and Quinn had a tendency to want to do the same things and go to the same places, and get in each other’s way.

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Personally have said the expectation for a healthy Quinn is 35 goals.  But also didn't bump Peterka over his 28 from last year, nor Tuch over his injury riddled 22.  If Quinn "only" has 27 or 28, those 2 alone could make up that "lost" production.  

Could see them using him, in the bumper slot on PP1 as should Thompson drift away from his 1 timer spot Quinn could drift there.  With Peterka at the other side & Dahlin at the top, they could have a good shooter all over the ice.  Would have Tuch down low for his size on screens & his forecheck on loose pucks that miss the net & rebounds.  (Which still leaves Cozens, Benson, Power, & Byram as a core for the 2nd PP.  And that's without any addition potential trade for a 2W.)

If the Sabres run the pp like this it will fail again. They need to learn to rotate, stop getting anchored into spots, and getting the puck below the goal line and playing it outwards from there. Rotation and movement are the key, everyone is a bumper, everyone is a trigger. 

[Doohickie]

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

If the Sabres run the pp like this it will fail again. They need to learn to rotate, stop getting anchored into spots, and getting the puck below the goal line and playing it outwards from there. Rotation and movement are the key, everyone is a bumper, everyone is a trigger. 

I did not state that they'll be stationary, nor that they should be stationary.  Have actually actively advocated for more actual player movement for pretty much as long as Ellis has run the PP.  (Have hated having Ellis running the dumbest PP in the NHL in at least the past 25 years.)  When mentioning having Quinn drift into Thompson's slot when Thompson drifts elsewhere, was referring to how Thompson would actually bring the puck off the boards (typically drifting back to towards the BL) with now having the PKers drift up with him (as that was who they were concerned with) opening up spots down low.  And having Quinn slot over to the 1 timer spot now forces a D to move to follow along with where people now are setting towards opening up additional lanes.  Nowhere in that post did it say that others would be stationary either.  Suppose that using the term "drift" might've been confusing.  But surprised that it was because "bumper" has pretty much become the term for where the player in the middle of the formation at the start of the PP starts out.  We'll see Dahlin below the goal line at times (it even happened under Ellis a couple of times shockingly) but that doesn't mean he's not generally considered the point of the PP.

[FrenchConnection44]

Giving some more thought to this, I wouldn’t have minded trading Savoie if it was for a hard nosed tough defensive forward. But we didn’t. 

Have to wonder if McLeod will contribute. 

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Giving some more thought to this, I wouldn’t have minded trading Savoie if it was for a hard nosed tough defensive forward. But we didn’t. 

Have to wonder if McLeod will contribute. 

Assume you mean a better hard nosed defensive forward than the three already added in Lafferty, Aube-Kubel and Malenstyn?

[GASabresIUFAN]

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/07/analyst-calls-buffalo-sabres-move.html

Quote

 

Analyst Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff weighed in Monday morning on NHL Network Radio on SiriusXM:

I think this is a CRAZY sell-low by Buffalo and I think it’s been an absolutely horrific off-season for (GM) Kevyn Adams... I think this is the definition of a panic trade. 

It doesn’t compute. This trade does not make any sense to me. It’s not like Savoie is 23 years old and they’ve given him so many chances and they’re giving up on him. It’s so early in his career and he was only drafted a couple of years ago.

 

 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/07/analyst-calls-buffalo-sabres-move.html

 

I love this only because had we not made any trade he would of torn into us for not parting with any prospects.

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

I love this only because had we not made any trade he would of torn into us for not parting with any prospects.

I love the part about pissing off your scouts. Never heard anyone talk about Vegas doing that and they trade prospects and picks. No one said it after Holtz trade about NJD. 

Speaking of that Holtz trade, how come no one bashes that? Maybe they did and I missed it.  He was a ppg player in the AHL at 20. Got 1 full year in the NHL, was traded for Paul Cotter another 24yr old C/W. Cuz his 1 NHL year was bad we know what he is? It is essentially the exact same trade Buffalo did. 

Former rw 7th overall pick for a 24yr old center,  very little reaction and grumbling. 

Former rw 9th overall pick for a 25yr old center, entire internet melts down. 

[JohnC]

17 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

If the Sabres run the pp like this it will fail again. They need to learn to rotate, stop getting anchored into spots, and getting the puck below the goal line and playing it outwards from there. Rotation and movement are the key, everyone is a bumper, everyone is a trigger. 

I just can't figure out why the staff didn't adjust their PP scheme when it was evident to all that it wasn't working? For the most part, it was a stationary approach. As you point out, there was little movement. The Tage wind up and blast away from the wing no longer worked because the opposition adjusted to their most potent weapon. What did our staff expect? The opposition not to adjust? In every sport, teams adjust and the opposition then readjusts. It's an ongoing process. We just seem to be stuck and hard-headed about reacting. The takeaway is: coaching matters.  

[Doohickie]

19 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I just can't figure out why the staff didn't adjust their PP scheme when it was evident to all that it wasn't working? For the most part, it was a stationary approach. As you point out, there was little movement. The Tage wind up and blast away from the wing no longer worked because the opposition adjusted to their most potent weapon. What did our staff expect? The opposition not to adjust? In every sport, teams adjust and the opposition then readjusts. It's an ongoing process. We just seem to be stuck and hard-headed about reacting. The takeaway is: coaching matters.  

Honestly, I think Granato was coaching as if he were still a Development Program coach, keeping a simple, static scheme so that each player would know where to expect teammates to be.  Unfortunately the opposition knew too.

[JohnC]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Honestly, I think Granato was coaching as if he were still a Development Program coach, keeping a simple, static scheme so that each player would know where to expect teammates to be.  Unfortunately the opposition knew too.

I agree with you that Granato's forte and inclination is toward player developmental. But he wasn't a novice in the league. He's been associated with the NHL for a long time in a variety of roles. However, coaching is coaching. You adjust and the opposition then adjusts to you. There is a basic element to it that seemed to elude him. The static PP scheme is an example of that. It will be interesting to see what the difference in coaching translates into from a points and record standpoint. This freaking franchise has been so amateurishly run. It starts from the owner and leaks down. Dam stupid and tough to take. 

[nfreeman]

I don't give a crap what various internet yobs think about the trade, but either way:  KA needs to be right about McLeod and the other moves he made this summer and going back to the Mittelstadt trade.  He's accountable for the results.

[Night Train]

5 hours ago, nfreeman said:

I don't give a crap what various internet yobs think about the trade, but either way:  KA needs to be right about McLeod and the other moves he made this summer and going back to the Mittelstadt trade.  He's accountable for the results.

Agree completely but JC..at least he tried and didn't run it back again. A real fear prior.  I'll give it a chance and think one more player is coming. 

[dudacek]

Has anybody seen McLeod's quality of competition?

Being a 3C on the Oilers is a pretty unusual spot and I wonder how it affected his usage.

Did Edmonton use him as a matchup guy to free up their stars, or did they tend to match the stars head-to-head against the other team's best?

It could significantly affect his charts

[CallawaySabres]

If Adams was in his first year as GM, he would have NEVER EVER made this trade. This move does have panic written all over it and I have zero doubt that it will be painful to see how these two careers are MASSIVELY different.

[Scottysabres]

1 minute ago, CallawaySabres said:

If Adams was in his first year as GM, he would have NEVER EVER made this trade. This move does have panic written all over it and I have zero doubt that it will be painful to see how these two careers are MASSIVELY different.

I respectfully disagree. The first 2 seasons with Adams had him reshaping the roster, primarily with very young talent. The next 2 seasons, he used Granato to develop the talent. Wise move given Granato's acumen for such. Now, the young talent is coming of prime age or just under. Adams isn't acting out of desperation, he's acting out of need, primarily the need of the roster to get the kids to the next lvl, the playoffs. These kids aren't playing season after season in a vacuum, they're progressing, with experience, with age, so is the roster. IMHO.

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, Night Train said:

Agree completely but JC..at least he tried and didn't run it back again. A real fear prior.  I'll give it a chance and think one more player is coming. 

KA leaving Terry's office after getting fired next April.  "But I tried, didn't I ***** it.  At least I did that." 

https://www.google.com/search?q=at+least+i+tried+scene+jack+cuckoos+nest&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-gbUS1101US1101&oq=at+least+i+tried+scene+jack+cuckoos+nest&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyCQgDECEYChigATIJCAQQIRgKGKABMgkIBRAhGAoYoAEyBwgGECEYqwLSAQoxMzAzNGowajE1qAIIsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:08ae769b,vid:pPwoKQs6G94,st:0

 

In this sequence, I'm Taber -  I'll bet a buck it doesnt work.  

[Peter]

22 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

I respectfully disagree. The first 2 seasons with Adams had him reshaping the roster, primarily with very young talent. The next 2 seasons, he used Granato to develop the talent. Wise move given Granato's acumen for such. Now, the young talent is coming of prime age or just under. Adams isn't acting out of desperation, he's acting out of need, primarily the need of the roster to get the kids to the next lvl, the playoffs. These kids aren't playing season after season in a vacuum, they're progressing, with experience, with age, so is the roster. IMHO.

Agreed.

 

[Thorny]

37 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

If Adams was in his first year as GM, he would have NEVER EVER made this trade. This move does have panic written all over it and I have zero doubt that it will be painful to see how these two careers are MASSIVELY different.

Because in his first year, he hadn’t missed the playoffs 4 consecutive times. It’s not so much “panic” as a recognition the plan needed to be amended 

[Craig Oi]

On 7/9/2024 at 9:34 AM, That Aud Smell said:

Man I don't hate that -- especially if we were to envision a modestly (albeit somewhat unevenly) rising line as it arcs over two separate X axises (axes?) -- the X axis being time (seasons) and Y being goals or assists.

Axes is correct 

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Has anybody seen McLeod's quality of competition?

Being a 3C on the Oilers is a pretty unusual spot and I wonder how it affected his usage.

Did Edmonton use him as a matchup guy to free up their stars, or did they tend to match the stars head-to-head against the other team's best?

It could significantly affect his charts

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by Brawndo

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, Night Train said:

Agree completely but JC..at least he tried and didn't run it back again. A real fear prior.  I'll give it a chance and think one more player is coming. 

There was no way he could run back the same roster from last year. It would be hideous hockey malpractice. There was an evident imbalance on the roster that related to the lower lines. You don't have to be a hockey afficionado to recognize that the roster was poorly constructed. In the numerous games that I watched, all the outside commentators who were not invested in the competing teams said the same thing i.e. the roster had talent but it was a poorly constructed roster with manifest flaws. 

This offseason, the GM appears to have rectified the roster imbalance. Good for him. He did it without giving up an excessive amount of assets. Again, good for him. And I'm with you that I hope that one more second line forward can be added to the mix. That would make it a superlative offseason for this cautious GM. 

Edited July 10 by JohnC