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Dutchy & The Factor

February 16, 2017, 2:04 PM ET [5 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Ryan O'Reilly won't say so publicly, but he looks forward to playing his former team the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs are in Buffalo tonight to play the Sabres. Next Saturday night, ROR will make his return to Denver.

O'Reilly told the Denver Post on Thursday that he he senses from afar that the winds of change are howling in the Rocky Mountain Way. He is close personal friends with Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, two A-List leading men who are in are red hot demand right now.

“Obviously when your team’s struggling, you know that certain guys are most likely going to be moved,” O’Reilly said. “For those guys, I just hope it’s not to our (Atlantic) division, so I don’t have to play against those guys all the time. They’re good players and they’re going to help any team.”


O'Reilly started playing for the NHL as an 18 year old. He played his way out of the OHL Erie Otters and onto the starting roster of the Avalanche.

"Snook" is now 26. He no longer plays wing and center. He is no longer a third line forward. O'Reilly's role with the Sabres has expanded. So too has his paycheck. ROR signed a massive seven year, $52.5 million contract just after the trade to Buffalo. He earned an NHL All Star Game invitation in 2016. ROR is Buffalo's number one center and is in line to be the heir apparent to Brian Gionta's throne as Buffalo's next captain.

“I think every year, you find new ways to grow your game,” he said. “I try to be more of a vocal guy, more of a leader. That was something coming here, I had to find how to do a bit more of. I think it’s really helped. I think there’s a little more creativity in my game offensively. Past years with Colorado tended to be a bit more on the defensive side, where here on the (power play) and stuff like that, I feel I can create more. It’s something I have to continue to work on, though.”


Duchene and O’Reilly both were selected in the 2009 NHL Draft draft. Duchene was selected third overall. O’Reilly was #33. Were it not for O'Reilly's constant contract battles with the Avs in his tenure in Denver, he and Duchene would likely still be teammates today.

“Even when you turn the TV on it’s a little strange to see him (O'Reilly),” Duchene said.

“He and I have played together a lot in our careers. Six years here, and then we played together the last two World Championships and in the World Cup. So we’re familiar with each other in terms of off the ice and on the ice. It’s weird playing against him for sure.”



Who knows. Maybe Dutchy and The Factor will play together again. In Buffalo. Tim Murray is still looking for a left winger to play alongside Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart.


Duchene, 26, is in the third season of a five-year, $30 million contract. Duchene doesn’t have any trade protection.

The Sabres have power forward Evander Kane to use as currency in a Duchene trade. Kane is a $5.25M AAV this and next season.

It just so happens that Sabres GM Tim Murray was seen watching Colorado's morning skate on Thursday. Was Murray doing his due diligence on Duchene and Tyson Barrie?




Thanks, ESPN



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The Anaheim Ducks appear to be playing hard ball with NHL teams who re eager and motivated to add a young, skilled, top four defenseman at the 2017 NHL trade deadline.

Anaheim GM Bob Murray will not be trading incumbents Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen,Hampus Lindholm, nor Josh Manson. Murray might consider trading one of his NHL-raedy, blue chip D prospects in Shea Theodore or Brandon Montour. However, the price is going to be through the roof so window shoppers need not apply nor buzz the phone of Bob Murray.

Bob Murray knows the NHL top four defenseman marketplace like the back of his hand. Supply is low, demand is high, therefore, the price is high. Word around the rinks is that in order to have your trade proposal for Theodore or Montour taken seriously, you better bring a top six forward and a D prospect to the discussion in the first 10 seconds or there will be no further dialogue with Bob Murray.

With the March 1 NHL trade deadline floating off shore like a lake effect snow storm, Bob Murray's trademark take-it-or-leave-it stance is causing NHL GMs to look elsewhere for D-men.
The Carolina Hurricanes are rich with young D prospects who likely can be had for more reasonable prices that Anaheim is expecting for their youngs stud D-men.
Hurricanes GM Ron Francis, said recently in an interview with ESPN.com that he is open minded to strengthening one of his areas of roster weakness by trading some of his D depth then so be it.

“I think everyone is always looking for D and we feel comfortable with our depth there”. We’re always looking at all options to make our team better; if that’s an area of strength and you can address an area of weakness, we’d certainly look at those possibilities.”
The Canes have gotten stellar play from unlikely D sources.Canes head coach Bill Peters has found a top four core that he can rely on a nightly basis. Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin lock down the top pair. Slavin leads the Canes in TOI average per game with 23:12 per game. His D partner Pesce is fourth on the team with 20:52 TOI. The duo is a combine +21 with 32 points and counting. The Carolina second D pair consists of veteran Ron Hainsey with 2017 All Star Justin Faulk. Hainsey. Hainsey averages 22:1 TOI while Faulk eats 22:46 TOI. Combines, Hainsey and Falk account for 15 goals and 39 points.

Peters isn't going to be changing his top four core anytime soon considering the Canes enter Thursday night's action just eight points out of a wild card spot.


With improved 5v5 scoring from their top six forward groiup, the Canes may be on their way to an Eastern Conference playoff berth. Francis is looking to add a scoring left winger who can score at even strength and on the PP. Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen are doing a nice job of scoring and creating points. The duo has 36 goals and 65 points between them, however, it appears that Peters and Francis want to add a veteran scoring winger who can play with pace, physicality and can finish. The though process is that ading a top six left winger would allow Teravainen to slot in at the third line LW position.

Matt Duchene has been linked to to Hurricanes via trade rumors. So too has Evander Kane.
Colorado and Buffalo are both looking to add top four defenseman.

The word I hear is that the asking price on Duchene and his teammate Gabe Landeskog is out of this stratosphere right now. The teams that are serious about trading for Duchene or Landeskog better come to the table roiund one with three to four premium assets. Or else, no deal. What types of assets? Let's go with a top organizational prospect, a first round draft choice and a difefrence making roster player on his entry level deal. Using the Boston Bruins as the measuring stick, their GM Don Sweeney would have to trade D prospect Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo, David Patsrnak, AND a first rounder to get his hands on Duchene.


Why do you think Duchene is still with the Avs? Landeskog too.

Joe Sakic thinks he is going to rebuild hi sentire roster by making one blockbuster trade. Sorry, Joe. That's not how it works. Duchene is a great player and all, ditto Landeskog, however, there are other options at left wing in the NHL right now. Evander Kane (6'3” and 220 lbs.)is one of them. He has 18 goals, 17 at even strength. Kane hits, fights, shoots the puck like a bazooka, sticks up for teammates and has the speed of an Olympic sprinter.

Kane is a similar but very different player than Duchene.

Kane would cost the Canes a helluva lot less than Duchene would.
Lost on the Hurrivanes D depth chart is Jack Eichel's best friend,  Noah Hanifin, who was  selected fifth overall in 2015. Hanifin is the left shot D that Tim Murray has been desperately searching for since he hosted the 2016 NHL Draft back on June 27, 2016. Murray is looking for an accomplishedleft shot D , puck distributor whom he can play alongside Rasmus Ristolainen on the top pair. This season, Hanifin is averaging just 16:52 TOI. He would be playing in more key situations were it not for Skavin and Hainsey being ahead of him on the LD depth chart. Hanifin's two goals are PPGs. He also has 13 assists.

Why would Ron Francis trade Noah Hanifin in a deal for Matt Duchene or Kane?


Like Ron Hextall in Philadelphia, Francis wisely has stocked his pantry by drafting top end defensemen with high draft choices in recent years. Hextall has studs on the come in Sam Morin, Travis Sanheim, and Robert Hagg. Francis has a similar embarrassment of riches in young, high-end defensemen.

Haydn Fleury went seventh overall in 2014.

Jake Bean was the 13th overall pick in 2016.

Julien Gauthier was selected 21st overall in 2016.

Niclas Roy was selected in the fourth round in 2015.

Both Gauthier and Roy starred for Team Canada's gold medal winning team at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

Will Ron Francis flip some of his organizational depth and trade a blue chip defender for a top six scoring forward?

The NHL trade deadline is March 1.
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