O’Reilly, Smith and Lehner - Sabres Next Season?

[LGR4GM]

Am I the only who thinks just #3 overall isn't enough for ROR?

[darksabre]

Am I the only who thinks just #3 overall isn't enough for ROR?

Right. I wasn't joking when I said they'd have to add Price.

[TrueBlueGED]

Right. I wasn't joking when I said they'd have to add Price.

Price has negative trade value, IMO. That contract is one of the worst in the league.

[darksabre]

Price has negative trade value, IMO. That contract is one of the worst in the league.

They're basically paying us with the number 3 pick to take his contract. I would even want them to retain some salary too.

[TrueBlueGED]

They're basically paying us with the number 3 pick to take his contract. I would even want them to retain some salary too.

No thanks. I'll happily take Pacioretty off their hands though.

[Weave]

Still doesn't move the needle.

 

Yup.

[LikeEich]

Who the hell is CJ Smith?

Probably our best prospect lol

[bob_sauve28]

Am I the only who thinks just #3 overall isn't enough for ROR?

Id take the 3rd and run!

[LGR4GM]

Id take the 3rd and run!

Why

[dudacek]

Id take the 3rd and run!

So you want to get worse now and in the future?

 

Heiskanen Dubois, Strome, Draisaitl, Drouin, Galchenyuk, Huberdeau, Gudbranson, Duchene, Bogosian, Turris, Toews, Jack Johnson...

How many recent 3rd overall picks are better than O’Reilly?

[GASabresIUFAN]

I’m not trading ROR unless I have JT signed sealed and delivered. I’m not sure I’m trading him even then, unless a top 4 D on a decent contract with years left is coming back.

Edited May 28, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[bob_sauve28]

So you want to get worse now and in the future?

Heiskanen Dubois, Strome, Draisaitl, Drouin, Galchenyuk, Huberdeau, Gudbranson, Duchene, Bogosian, Turris, Toews, Jack Johnson...

How many recent 3rd overall picks are better than O’Reilly?

If I ,was getting a Huberdeau back in return I'd trade him and never look bacK. But your point is taken

[Randall Flagg]

I’m not trading ROR unless I have JT signed sealed and delivered. I’m not sure I’m trading him even then, unless a top 4 D on a decent contract with years left is coming back.

This, or if some team goes nuts and gives us a stupid offer, like a first line winger and a defenseman better than Scandella, or something. 

Also, I've said this before, this offseason has been very positive and we haven't even gotten to the fun parts yet, which give me hope even after last place seasons. 

 

If we bring Lehner back to do Lehner-Ullmark, I will instantly lose every ounce of that optimism. 

 

He's just so bad at so many fundamentals, and while this wouldn't hold up in court or peer review, my gut, the way the team plays in front of him, his focus issues at key points in games, and his own interviews tell me that he has to be quite bad for the locker room. Give me Holtby/Rinne with Ullmark's awesome vibes in the Biron role. 

Also, I feel like Botterill hates Lehner and has negative interest in bringing him back. Just a gut feel, again. Don't hold me to it. 

[LikeEich]

So you want to get worse now and in the future?

 

Heiskanen Dubois, Strome, Draisaitl, Drouin, Galchenyuk, Huberdeau, Gudbranson, Duchene, Bogosian, Turris, Toews, Jack Johnson...

How many recent 3rd overall picks are better than O’Reilly?

Probably someone better in every one of those years taken on or after 3rd... Whatever that's worth... No comment on the trade itself

[Taro T]

I’m not trading ROR unless I have JT signed sealed and delivered. I’m not sure I’m trading him even then, unless a top 4 D on a decent contract with years left is coming back.

That's about the only way I'd send him packing & still need to believe the Sabres are winning the trade to pull the trigger. Until Reinhart is off his bridge deal, there isn't a NEED to move O'Reilly if Tavares does come in.

 

And think of the flexibility they'd have having Tavares, Eichel, O'Reilly, & Mittelstadt available at C w/ Okposo & Reinhart locking down the top 2 RW slots. They could have 2 really solid top lines or 3 good lines w/ guys that should be 3's or 4's like Wilson, Smith, Bailey, Baptiste, or a Swedish kid riding Johnny T's or Jack's coattails.

 

My preference would be to keep that C spine. Would really need a knock your socks off trade to pull that trigger. Considering they'd be adding Dahlin to the D next year, not sure I'd trade O'Reilly for a D. Would rather use him to get a true #1 goalie. That is where a single addition could alter the entire team outlook.

[Drunkard]

That's about the only way I'd send him packing & still need to believe the Sabres are winning the trade to pull the trigger. Until Reinhart is off his bridge deal, there isn't a NEED to move O'Reilly if Tavares does come in.

 

And think of the flexibility they'd have having Tavares, Eichel, O'Reilly, & Mittelstadt available at C w/ Okposo & Reinhart locking down the top 2 RW slots. They could have 2 really solid top lines or 3 good lines w/ guys that should be 3's or 4's like Wilson, Smith, Bailey, Baptiste, or a Swedish kid riding Johnny T's or Jack's coattails.

 

My preference would be to keep that C spine. Would really need a knock your socks off trade to pull that trigger. Considering they'd be adding Dahlin to the D next year, not sure I'd trade O'Reilly for a D. Would rather use him to get a true #1 goalie. That is where a single addition could alter the entire team outlook.

 

Reinhart's ELC is already over. He becomes an RFA on July 1st. Short of getting Tavares or a team paying through the nose (including sending us back a defensively minded center as part of the package) I would not move O'Reilly this season. I want Eichel and Mittelstadt focused more on generating offense so O'Reilly needs to carry the water defensively.

[Eleven]

If we want to have an intellectually honest conversation about the future of O'Reilly, can we dissociate it from the concept of Tavares signing here?  Because that is REALLY unlikely.

[TrueBlueGED]

If I ,was getting a Huberdeau back in return I'd trade him and never look bacK. But your point is taken

 

This is weird to me. Huberdeau has a whopping one season where he out-produced O'Reilly offensively, gets easier matchups, and also plays a less valuable position. 

[Randall Flagg]

This is weird to me. Huberdeau has a whopping one season where he out-produced O'Reilly offensively, gets easier matchups, and also plays a less valuable position. 

That is a little misleading due to injuries - In the last four seasons, since Huberdeau turned 21, he's played 268 games, with 72 goals (57 ES) (0.27 per game, 0.21 per game at ES) and 208 points (156 ES) for a PPG of 0.78 (0.58 ES)

 

ROR had 306 games, 83 goals (46 ES) (0.27 per game, 0.15 per game at ES) and 231 PTS (141 ES) for a points per game of 0.75 (0.46 ES)

 

So he's slightly better offensively since he turned 21 4 years ago. 

 

This was only meant to address that particular part of your argument, not the whole thing.

 

I freaking love Huberdeau and he would be a sublime winger for Eichel, though I'd need to get something on top of him with value to trade ROR.

[TrueBlueGED]

That is a little misleading due to injuries - In the last four seasons, since Huberdeau turned 21, he's played 268 games, with 72 goals (57 ES) (0.27 per game, 0.21 per game at ES) and 208 points (156 ES) for a PPG of 0.78 (0.58 ES)

 

ROR had 306 games, 83 goals (46 ES) (0.27 per game, 0.15 per game at ES) and 231 PTS (141 ES) for a points per game of 0.75 (0.46 ES)

 

So he's slightly better offensively since he turned 21 4 years ago. 

 

This was only meant to address that particular part of your argument, not the whole thing.

 

I freaking love Huberdeau and he would be a sublime winger for Eichel, though I'd need to get something on top of him with value to trade ROR.

 

The injury point is fair, but I highly doubt Huberdeau puts up the same numbers if he were tasked with O'Reilly's assignments.

 

And he was talking about a draft pick that eventually becomes Huberdeau-level.

[Randall Flagg]

The injury point is fair, but I highly doubt Huberdeau puts up the same numbers if he were tasked with O'Reilly's assignments.

 

And he was talking about a draft pick that eventually becomes Huberdeau-level.

Didn't read back that far. 3OA for the Habs I'm assuming. no thanks to that unless we also get Mete and Poehling or something. 

 

And I'm sure he'd compensate for it by getting to play with the Eichel PP unit the way ROR did ;) 

 

 

[Taro T]

Reinhart's ELC is already over. He becomes an RFA on July 1st. Short of getting Tavares or a team paying through the nose (including sending us back a defensively minded center as part of the package) I would not move O'Reilly this season. I want Eichel and Mittelstadt focused more on generating offense so O'Reilly needs to carry the water defensively.

Though I'd try to get him to agree to a longer deal, Reinhart will most likely be bridged this off-season & that contract nearly definitely will be small enough that the Sabres will not be forced to move O'Reilly to fit Tavares. That is where O'Reilly could be moved, though as stated above, would rather keep him & the C spine that even the late 70's era Habs didn't have.

 

I've stated several times that my preference is to keep O'Reilly unless Botterill gets an offer that simply is unrefusably good. IF Tavares were in the fold, an offer that qualifies as unrefusably good goes from ludicrously good to merely ridiculously good. ;)

[GoPuckYourself]

I think O'Reilly is part of the problem here unfortunately, he's in a system that relies on forwards getting up the ice fast, something he doesn't do well, he's a decent player but for what he's worth I don't like the fit, he 's a great face off guy, that landed us last place in the league so I'm sure there's a better fit out there. I'd love for them to land a top 4 d-man with O'Reilly and a top 6 forward with Ristolainen. I think this team would be better off without those guys who don't "fit the process", just my opinions.

Edited May 29, 2018 by GoPuckYourself

[Mustache of God]

Lehner is the embodiment of Murray and everything he did wrong with the team. JBOT, in making this his team, is painfully aware of that and I can't foresee Lehner being back here in October. The thought that I'll never see him bite on a deke and immediately get burned, let in a softie for not covering a post, and watch him attempt a shootout is a comforting thought.

 

Barring the near impossible scenario of the Sabres landing Tavares, ROR should be kept on this team, but not be given a letter. We've been fed a false narrative that he's an excellent leader in the locker room. I haven't seen any evidence of that, rather, he just likes to shoulder the blame, put it all on himself. Put the C on Jack and then the A's on  whoever earned them (I have no idea on the locker-room dynamics so I won't pretend to know who deserves the As).

 

CJ Smith is the type of player we should all be rooting for as the success of next year will require some prospects being able to make the jump and put up some sort of consistent production. I hope he's one of these and if he does this out of camp or on a call up remains to be seen.

[Drunkard]

I think O'Reilly is part of the problem here unfortunately, he's in a system that relies on forwards getting up the ice fast, something he doesn't do well, he's a decent player but for what he's worth I don't like the fit, he 's a great face off guy, that landed us last place in the league so I'm sure there's a better fit out there. I'd love for them to land a top 4 d-man with O'Reilly and a top 6 forward with Ristolainen. I think this team would be better off without those guys who don't "fit the process", just my opinions.

 

I don't follow your logic. By that reasoning Eichel should also be gone because he helped land us last in the league as well.

 

Also, which of our remaining centers is going to carry the load of defensively difficult minutes?

 

Are we going to task Eichel with them? That will go over great when we're paying him $10 million to score and the increased responsibilities cause a drop in his production.

 

A rookie like Mittelstadt?

 

Or are you going to double Larsson's TOI so that the worst scoring team in the league gives even more ice team to a guy that hardly ever scores?

 

Trading away Ristolainen makes even less sense. We only have him and NHL/AHL tweener Nelson on the right hand side, along with Bogosian's 10-20 games. We can speculate that Dahlin will also play his off hand on the right but until that proves to be the case and he shows he can handle it, I wouldn't want to ditch the only ox we have to help pull that wagon.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Alkoholist