Cal O'Reilly is 28. His baby brother, Ryan, is 24.
The O'Reilly boys are as close as two brothers can be.
On Thursday night, the Brothers O'Reilly made Buffalo Sabres history.
Cal O'Reilly and Johan Larsson each scored twice for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
O'Reilly gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead with a PPG with 18.1 seconds left in first period.
O'Reilly grabbed a dart of a pass from Jack Eichel in the slot and sniped Leafs goalie Garret Sparks over his right shoulder.
Ryan O'Reilly earned the secondary assist marking the first time in the 46 year history of the team that two brothers combined on a Buffalo Sabres goal.
Cal O'Reilly's second goal made it 3-0 at 3:41 of the second period.
Larsson's second goal, and ninth of the season, came with an empty net in the dying moments of the game.
Brooks Laich made it a 3-1 game.
Chad Johnson made 25 saves in his 20th win of the season.
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The NHL trade deadline occurred one month ago and is in our rear view mirror now. Contending teams have already go shopping and have set their rosters up for their playoff runs.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Director of Player Personnel for the Anaheim Ducks in attendance and scouting the Sabres Leafs game on Thursday night.
The Ducks had been frequent flyers tp Buffalo this season. They were interested in power forward Jamie McGinn and other Sabres players.
Ducks GM Bob Murray made a trade with Sabres GM Tim Murray to secure the services of the burly power forward for what he hopes to be a long playoff run into the month of June and the Stanley Cup finals.
So, then why were the Ducks watching Sabres-Leafs?
Tim Murray still needs a top pair left defenseman. Anaheim still has a surplus of lefties. Cam Fowler has never left Tim Murray's top of mind. Last week, Tim Murray added a right in college free agent Casey Nelson. Buffalo's right D is already set with Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian and Mark Pysyk. Nelson will likely play in Rochester next season. Maybe Nelson sticks and stays in Buffalo. Maybe Pysyk will be on the move this summer.
That's another story for another day.
The fact remains that Murray needs to fortify his left side. Josh Gorges has been riding shotgun for Ristolainen, however, he has only one year remaining on his contract. Tim Murray has been patiently looking for a long term side kick for Ristolainen. Cam Fowler meets all of GMTMs criteria.
The Sabres have made a 21 point improvement and counting this season. They will be a playoff team next season. Tim Murray has $35 million in salary cap space for next season and is looking to add A-List stars to his already impressive young core of stars in Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhart, Zach Bogosian, Jake McCabe, Mark Pysyk, Marcus Foligno, Nic Deslauriers, Justin Bailey, Hudson Fasching, et al.
Murray wants to propel his team into the playoffs next season. Murray is going to make a play for pending UFA Steven Stamkos. He has an appetite to add a great defender like Fowler.
Fowler, 24, plays 22 to 25 minutes per night. He is a great skater, plays exceptional D, QBs the PP, and is durable. In 408 career games, Fowler has 33 goals and 144 assists. In 63 games this season, Fowler has scored 4 goals and 23 assists.
The Ducks are locked and loaded. They are ready to break on through to the other side. As presently constructed, the Ducks have all of the makings of a team that can defeat the Kings and Blackhawks and claim the Western Conference crown.
Having said that, Bob Murray's blue line will be changing next season. Murray will have to re-sign pending RFAs Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen to multi-year deals. The youngsters are going to get paid, too. The current contract comparable for young top four D is the Olli Maata six year, $ 24.5 million deal. The Ducks don't want to lose Lindholm nor Vatanen. Bob Murray will retain them. That would leave Cam Fowler as the odd man out. How many $4 million Dmen does Bob Murray intend to keep? Kevin Bieksa and Fowler are $4 million cap hits for the next two seasons. When Lindholm and Vatanen re-sign in July, they top will be $4 million Dmen. Clayton Stoner is a $3.25 million man.
Bob Murray has young lefties Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour to immediately plug and play when Fowler moves out. Theodore and Montour give the Ducks Fowler-like production at both ends of the ice, howver, are playing on entry level contracts.
Maybe, just maybe, the Sabres and Ducks will complete a draft night trade. Tim Murray loves to show the hockey world with his trades. The Sabres will be hosting the 2016 NHL Draft. What better place to announce a big trade than on the draft stage in your own barn?