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Carter Hutton is on his way to becoming a Buffalo Sabre.
Hutton, 32, posted a .931 SV% for St. Louis in 32 games in 2017-18.
When Sabres refused to make a qualifying offer to incumbent starter Robin Lehner, it opened the crease to Linus Ullmark and now Hutton, who has backed up Pekka Rinne and Jake Allen during his NHL career.
Wedgewood, a Toronto native, played last season at AHL Ontario. Wedgewood is a big, athletic goalie who will add experience to the crease in Rochester.
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Rise and shine! Happy Canada Day!
Raise your hand if you couldn’t sleep last night?
*Raises hand*
Visions of unrestricted free agents danced in my head. That and the thermostat in my home is set to 70 degrees and I was still uncomfortable from the sweltering heat. Trust me, I’m not complaining about the tropical weather forecast Buffalo-Niagara. I’d rather deal with 95 degrees and 100% humidity that lake effect snow and sun-zero wind chills.
Welcome to the NHL Free Agent Freakshow where anything can happen, but usually doesn’t.
Speaking of Buffalo, center Ryan O’Reilly is still a member of the leadership group of the Buffalo Sabres. No. ROR was not traded before the clock struck midnight on July 1. Contrary to all of the rattle and hum that has surrounded O’Reilly for the past 90 days, he was not traded.
Surely, Montreal, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Carolina and other teams have taken runs at crafting a trade deal for O’Reilly with Sabres GM Jason Botterill. They gave it the old college try. No team came close to meeting or exceeding Botterill’s high compensation expectations for O’Reilly. You can’t fault NHL GMs for trying to improve their current roster via trades.
However, the deal must make sense for both parties. If the offer was lop-sided, then Botterill rejected it. It sounds to me like Botterill gave his NHL GM counterparts specific parameters that they would have to meet in terms of trade compensation. In other words, premium assets in the form of a first round draft choice, a top six scoring forward, and a top prospect.
How bad do NHL GMs want a top six, puck possession pivot like O’Reilly? Clearly not bad enough to meet Botterill’s expectation level.
O’Reilly has not been shopped around the NHL. Months ago, Botterill said he would listen to offers for key contributors on his roster not named Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin or Casey Mittelstadt.
O’Reilly led the NHL and set a career high with a faceoff win percentage of 60.0%. It was the best season by a Sabres center since the NHL began publishing FO% in 1997-98:
Ryan O’Reilly – 60.0% (2017-18)
Paul Gaustad – 59.8% (2010-11)
Chris Gratton – 58.9% (2002-03)
Chris Drury – 58.8% (2006-07)
Ryan O’Reilly – 58.0% (2016-17)
O’Reilly also led the NHL in faceoffs won, edging out Rod Brind’Amour (1,268 in 2005-06) to set an NHL record for the most by any NHL player in a season. His 954 wins at even strength shattered the previous single-season record (Brind’Amour, 870 in 2001-02).
ROR's 29 faceoff wins on February 11 vs. Colorado set a single-game franchise record and tied as the sixth most wins by a player since the league began tracking faceoff stats in the 1997-98 season.
O’Reilly became just the third player ever to win at least 1,000 faceoffs in a season while maintaining a faceoff percentage of at least 59 percent, joining Brind’Amour (five times) and Patrice Bergeron (two times).
O'Reilly scored 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points this season. He scored 15 15 PPG and skated 20:49 TOI. He scored 20 goals and 35 assists in 72 games in 2016-17 and 21 goals, 39 assists in 71 games in 2015-16.
Today, O'Reilly is still employed by the Sabres. By paying O’Reilly his contracted $7.5 million signing bonus on this day, Botterill has further upped the ante on the price of poker regarding O’Reilly.
I have thoughts on why O’Reilly wasn’t traded before midnight on July 1.
• Botterill and Housley share a belief that Stanley Cup contending teams must have four excellent center men. Botterill’s Penguins won three Stanley Cups with center ice dominance from super centers Crosby-Malkin-JStaal-Kennedy; Sid-Geno-Bonino-Cullen. When Housley’s Nashville Predators played in the Cup Finals in 2017, they boasted an impressive center cluster of Johansen-Fisher-Wilson-Scissons. In both cases, the superior center ice play was the spinal cord of their respective teams. Stellar play from the defensemen and goaltenders augmented the centers of attention. Botterill and Housley are building a similar roster in Buffalo a with dominant center cluster of Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Casey Mittelstadt, Evan Rodrigues, Johan Larsson. Why trade O’Reilly now when you don’t have to? O’Reilly is under contract long term and he slots perfectly at 2C.
• Is O’Reilly going to be Buffalo’s 2C this season? It looks like that on July 1. However, things can change dramatically and in a hurry. Before too long, Casey Mittelstadt is going to be an NHL rock star! Not to be outdone by first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin at Buffalo’s recently concluded development camp, the 19-year old Mittelstadt stole the show and the headlines with several explosive, entertaining performances during yesterday’s 3-On-3 tournament. Mittelstadt (8th overall, 2017) scored five goals, including the shootout game winner to give his Team Martin the bragging rights as champs of the French Connection 3-v-3 tourney.
Mittelstadt joined the Sabres in April after his Minnesota Golden Gophers failed to qualify for the NCAA Mens Hockey Tourney. He signed his ELC and played six games with the Sabres, scoring a goal and four assists. The kid is electric and will be starting his season in Buffalo come September. Mittelstadt will be a 50-point player in the NHL in the very near future. The question in the back of the minds of Botterill and Housley’s minds: Is Casey Mittelstadt ready to play 2C for the Buffalo Sabres for 82 games this season? The answer is no. Today Can that change between now and opening night in October? Not likely, but stranger things have happened in Buffalo in recent years. When Mittelstadt earns more TOI and a bigger role at #2 center behind Eichel, his promotion will slot O’Reilly at 3C. Personally, I have zero problems with that. O’Reilly can play up and down your lineup, take all the draws and be productive and competitive no matter what line he is on.
• Do you pay your third line center $7.5M AAV? As my favourite poet Gord Downie one said: “Wheat kings and pretty things. Wait and see what tomorrow brings”. If Mittelstadt has a red hot training camp, and he likely will, he just might be the opening night 2C. However, I think Housley will give him protection and ease him in slowly from the 3C pivot.
• Did the John Tavares soap opera put the kibosh on a Ryan O’Reilly trade before July? It is possible. Tavares is considering proposals from six NHL teams. His final decision was expected on Saturday. Still we wait. In the event Tavares bolts from Long Island to San Jose, Isles GM Lou Lamoriello will have a huge crater at his first line center position. Might that necessitate a trade with the Sabres for Ryan O’Reilly to fill the void left by Tavares adios? It’s plausible. Lou Lamoriello better be prepared to part with scoring winger Brock Nelson, dynamic forward prospect Kiefer Bellows, veteran puck distributor Nick Leddy, and a first round draft choice. Or else, no dice. Remember, O’Reilly has a team to play for in the Sabres. He is under contract long term. He is a valued member of his team. If Lamoriello, Marc Bergevin or Doug Armstrong want to pay a kings ransom for O'Reilly, then so be it. O'Reilly's trade value increased when the Pegulas wired $7.5 million to O’Reilly’s Swiss bank account on Sunday July 1. That's $7.5M that an interested team doesn't have to pay the player. Thus, Botterill can demand more and expect to get it.
It’s July 1 and Ryan O’Reilly is still a key cog in the motor of the Buffalo Sabres. Personally, I’m glad that O’Reilly’s name has been surrounded by hockey buzz for the past 90 days. I’m expecting him to have heard the trade rumors and the chatter. I’m expecting that it will piss him off and motivate him all the more to shut the mouths of his critics. There is nothing more infuriating for a professional hockey player to hear his name constantly being mentioned in the 8-day a week NHL trade rumor mill. The noise gets to the wives, kids and families of the players. It can be upsetting. On the other hand, it can also be an ice-cold bucket of water in the face to wake up the player. I expect O’Reilly to stay woke. I've been telling you for months that O'Reilly isn't going anywhere this summer. He's a Buffalo Sabre. Might that change in March at the 2019 NHL trade deadline or at the 2019 NHL Draft?
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When the clock strikes Noon Eastern time today, I expect Botterill to announce the signing of veteran goaltender Carter Hutton. I've been telling you about Hutton for the past couple of weeks. He nows Phil Houlsey well from their time together in Nashville. I'm told its a three-year deal in the $3M AAV range.
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Are the Sabres looking at scoring wingers in unrestricted free agency today?
Yes.
Botterill inquired about James Van Riemsdyk, who scored 36 goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. JVR is UFA, however, he is heading home to Philadelphia for five years and $35 million.
Keep an eye on James Neal, who potted 25 goals for teh Vegas Golden Knighst last season. "The Real Deal" is a Whiby, Ontario native, which is close to Buffalo. Neal is 30 years old and is still very productive. He isn't factoring in to the long term plans in Vegas. Neal has a long term relationship with Jason Botterill from their days together in Pittsburgh. Neal also knows Phil Housley very well. Neal played for Nashville Predators while Housley was a coach on Peter Laviolette's staff.
In 703 career NHL games, Neal has scored 263 goals and 232 assists for 495 points. He is +35 lifetime. Neal has scored 20 or more goals in seasons 10 times in his 11 year NHL career. His career high is 40 goals. In 100 career playoff games, Neal has scored 31 and 24 assists for 55 points.
I see Botterill offering Neal three seasons at $6.5 million per season. Neal was a $5M AAV last season.
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