Ryan O'Reilly traded to St. Louis

[Nik]

https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1013581724306083840

Thought the day was over, did you?

edit: It's confirmed by Friedman.

 

[herman]

St. Louis is on the hook for the signing bonus btw

This makes Buffalo an easier team to face now that it?s just Eichel, Mittelstadt, Rienhart.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/1013584745807171585

This seems like a pretty big haul, but I'd still rather have ROR.

 

[Nik]

https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/1013584745807171585

This seems like a pretty big haul, but I'd still rather have ROR.

I'm actually a little underwhelmed to be honest but I think Thompson being the big piece underscores what I've been saying about how valuable having some of those late 1st round C prospects can be in trades like this.

 

[herman]

Gauthier to Montreal, yeah?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The more I think about this the more I think St. Louis made out like bandits here. And the general reaction on twitter seems to be the opposite. But Berglund and Sobotka are aging, 30-year old 3rd liners. They give Buffalo some decent depth, but you could have signed comparable players as free agents today. Then you got some picks that will be in the bottom 3rd of their rounds. And Tage Thompson who IIRC was a pretty questionable 1st rounder in his year.

All for one of the best two-way centres in the league. Buffalo was one of the few teams in the Atlantic or even in the league with him and Eichel to be able to match-up against Matthews/Tavares, and they threw that all away. Classic quantity for quality trade.

 

[Zee]

Sabres looking for Jack Hughes next summer eh?

 

[Nik]

The more I think about this the more I think St. Louis made out like bandits here. And the general reaction on twitter seems to be the opposite. But Berglund and Sobotka are aging, 30-year old 3rd liners. They give Buffalo some decent depth, but you could have signed comparable players as free agents today. Then you got some picks that will be in the bottom 3rd of their rounds. And Tage Thompson who IIRC was a pretty questionable 1st rounder in his year.

All for one of the best two-way centres in the league. Buffalo was one of the few teams in the Atlantic or even in the league with him and Eichel to be able to match-up against Matthews/Tavares, and they threw that all away. Classic quantity for quality trade.

I agree. What I'm sort of seeing on Twitter is grading this trade on the basis of the Sabres, or more precisely their GM, not really having a say in the matter and so getting this haul was good considering they had to move him today.

Still, it's nice to see a deal like this and rather than thinking "Man, I wish the Leafs had gotten in on that" being able to look at our C depth and being all "Nah, we're good".

 

[bustaheims]

The more I think about this the more I think St. Louis made out like bandits here. And the general reaction on twitter seems to be the opposite. But Berglund and Sobotka are aging, 30-year old 3rd liners. They give Buffalo some decent depth, but you could have signed comparable players as free agents today. Then you got some picks that will be in the bottom 3rd of their rounds. And Tage Thompson who IIRC was a pretty questionable 1st rounder in his year.

THat's how I see it, too. Berglund gets some name recognition, but the last time he cracked 40 points was in 10/11. He also comes with a history of some pretty serious injuries. Sobotka is a 3rd/4th line C. Thompson also probably ends up a 3rd liner. My first thought after seeing this deal was "is Buffalo tanking again?"

 

[Nik]

THat's how I see it, too. Berglund gets some name recognition, but the last time he cracked 40 points was in 10/11. He also comes with a history of some pretty serious injuries. Sobotka is a 3rd/4th line C. Thompson also probably ends up a 3rd liner. My first thought after seeing this deal was "is Buffalo tanking again?"

Definitely makes you wonder why none of the teams that missed on Tavares couldn't put together something better here.

 

[Coco-puffs]

I feel like Buffalo put paying out that bonus ahead of getting a decent return.  Had they waited a bit, other teams would have circled back and offered more IMO.  They seem to have had too much pressure internally to avoid paying the bonus

 

[Nik]

It's a minor point but apparently the 1st rounder Buffalo gets is top 10 protected. I don't think St. Louis will be in the bottom 1/3rd of the league next year but it shows to what extent the Sabres were motivated sellers.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

I feel like Buffalo put paying out that bonus ahead of getting a decent return.

I kind of agree. The package was underwhelming, as CTB says, because the bonus being paid was what they maybe needed done. Wasn't this the owner that purchased the Sabres and spent like a sailor at port, when he came in?
I'm not sure if they are cash-strapped, but it feels like the bonus molded the return here...

 

[herman]

Such a good trade (for St Louis)

 

[Guilt Trip]

Looking back, still can't believe they traded him but I think he wanted out of there too.