Bylsma: O'Reilly Is My #1 Center (sabres)

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Bylsma: O'Reilly Is My #1 Center

By GARTH'S CORNER

Jun 29, 2015 • 7:45 pm

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Jack Eichel is a trip. The things that come out of his mouth at times are hilarious.

For example, on Friday night after Tim Murray selected him second overall, Murray chirped the kid about not wanting to mess up his trademark hair by putting on a Sabres ball cap. "There's no way you can mess up with this hair", the Terrier quipped.

How about Murray telling Eichel that he was shaking more than the 18 year kid was while they posed with Terry Pegula on stage?

Later in the evening after the top selections were made, Eichel told third overall pick Dylan Strome that he knew in advance that he was going to be drafted by the Arizona Coyotes. How would Eichel know that? Strome was all like "Dude, who told you that?". Eichel said that he deduced that from the meeting that he had with the Arizona Coyotes presumably at the combine in Buffalo.

Check out Jack all mic'd up at the EichDavid Draft:

Eichel exudes confidence is not intimidated by interacting with and conversing with adults. That's a great sign of his character. He is comfortable in his own skin and carries himself with a great deal of confidence. It's easy to see why his BU Terrier teammates and coaches love him. He is way mature beyond his years and he fully embraces the spotlight.

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Tim Murray met with media after the conclusion of Day 2 of the NHL Draft.

Murray said that he likes where his team is at right now. He like the improvements.

Here are Murray's hot takes:

"It was one of the highlights of my drafting career", echoing previous comment about drafting Jack Eichel second overall.

"We were willing to pay a price on him that we weren’t willing to pay on other guys", regarding bucking the trend and investing a 1st rounder in goalie Robin Lehner.

"I probably need a veteran UFA defenseman or I have to trade for one. I’ve been talking to teams about a left-shot D."

"Let him put his balls on the line for that one." -- Tim Murray on Dan Bylsma. The coach said Sabres are a lot better, Tim said the Sabres have improved "a little bit".

Thanks, Sabres TV

***

Bros. Best of luck Mikhail and Nikita.

From CSKA, Sabres, Team Russia to Colorado with this guy))))))

Posted by Mikhail Grigorenko on Friday, June 26, 2015

Updated:

Thanks, Sabres TV

Dan Bylsma must think that he is dreaming. In fact, Bylsma said that he didn’t sleep on Friday night because he was so #JackedUp.

Since being hired by Tim Murray earlier this month, the Sabres have hosted the NHL Combine, traded for starting goalie Robin Lehner and David Legwand, pulled off the blockbuster Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn trade, and, then drafted generational talent Jack Eichel with the second overall pick at the 2015 NHL Draft.

Bylsma spoke briefly with media on Saturday morning at the draft.

The new head coach boldy and matter-of-factly pronounced that Ryan O’Reilly will be his #1 center when training camp begins in September.

In my opinion, that’s the way it should be. I, like Bylsma would go with the known quantity at #1 center. In this approach, Bylsma will take pressure away from rookie centers Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart. In fact, I like Reinhart to start out on a wing rather than at center. It would give him less to think about on the ice. In his days in Pittsburgh, Bylsma often moved Geno Malkin and Jordan Staal to the wing from their natural center positions. Reinhart could benefit from a simplified role as he makes his first strides in the NHL. Girgensons has played the wing in the NHL already in his career. Knowing the kid the way that I do, I see him playing wing or center with no hesitation or resistance. He will do what Bylsma tells him to do. Zemgus has played on two consecutive 30th place teams and he wants to win more than anything else. He will be okay with a winger-center role. Reinhart played three games on the wing in Rochester at the end of last season. He too will play wherever Bylsma writes his name on the lineup cared. Reinhart is a versatile forward who see the ice and anticipates the play so well. He will benefit from playing a hybrid winger-center role.

Bylsma won't commit now to exact line combos because he hasn't even coached his first Sabres practice yet. Murray has given him multiple center options to contemplate this summer.

Here are my centers:

L1: O’Reilly L2: Eichel L3: Girgensons L4: Legwand

Here are my ideal trios:

Kane-O’Reilly-Ennis Moulson-Eichel-Reinhart Foligno-Girgensons-Gionta Deslauriers-Legwand-McGinn

What become of Johan Larsson? I like the kid and the way he played last season. However, Legwand's presence will send Larsson back to Rochester. He can be an injury call up. Murray may want to trade Larsson for assets this summer.

What of Cody Hodgson? It's safe to say that CoHo will be bought out in the near future. He has four years remaining on the deal that Darcy Regoer signed him to. Buying out Hodgson now is a smart financial play because he will only count $783,000 against teh salary cap for the next 8 seasons.

Matt Ellis is a grinder. He will assume his player/coach role in Rochester and will mentor Nick Baptiste, Justin Bailey and the new kids on the Amerks block.

Cody McCormick's well documented blood clot issues are still a concern. His status is not known at this time. However, if the clotting is still persistent, he will have to sit and watch while his body heals itself. Blood clots are no laughing matter. McCormick has to take daily blood thinning meds to manage the clots. Hockey players on blood thinners are a huge concern with all of the contact in an NHL practice and in games.

At 24 years of age, O’Reilly is the alpha dog. He dominates opponents in all three zones. He is a 200 by 85 player.

Bylsma thinks that ROR may have been pushed in the shadows of Landeskog, Duchene, and MacKinnon in Denver. Now, ROR has the opportunity to be the star in Buffalo. He has already played in 440 career NHL games (427 regular season). He has played in all key situations in playoffs and regular season games. He is an exemplary power play producer and a pit bull of a penalty killer. Bylsma loves O'Reilly's versatility and multiple dimensions.

His new teammate Tyler Ennis raved about O'Reilly to Bylsma and Tim Murray. Ennis played on a line with O'Reilly on Canada's gold medal team at the IIHF World Championships in Prague last month. It was the opinion of Ennis and other players on that team that O'Reilly was the unsung hero. He was the glue guy on that team. He played a similar role as quit, confident leader on the Colorado Avalanche and the Erie Otters in his junior hockey days. O'Reilly is a natural born leader and having him at the #1 center slot will allow Eichel, Girgensons, and Reinhart to achieve goals and to create offense. That's a great resource and luxury for Bylsma to have. Bylsma must be envisioning O'Reilly as Crosby, Eichel as Malkin, Girgensons as Jordan Staal, and Reinhart as Brandon Sutter.

Too many blue chip centers in Buffalo a problem? No, it's an embarrassment of riches that Bylsma, Murray and the Sabres players will gladly welcome and embrace.

**

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Let's take a stroll around the NHL Draft with newly minted Sabres center Jack Eichel.

Thanks, Buffalo Sabres

**

Boldly, swiftly and brilliantly, Tim Murray has transformed the Buffalo Sabres from laughing stock of the NHL two years running to a bonafide playoff contender.

Murray pulled off the second blockbuster trade of his Buffalo tenure by trading for Ryan O'Reilly on Friday night. Oh, by the way, Murray also selected American Sniper Jack Eichel with the second overall pick in the NHL Draft. Oh yeah, he also traded for 6'5 225 lb. Sons Of Anarchy stunt double/goalie Robin Lehner.

I'd say that Murray had a good day on Friday.

How did Murray and his scouts and advisers do it?

Simply put, the Sabres managed and invested their prodigious supply of assets correctly and responsibly. All of the years of saving for rainy days was invested into smart, calculated, well thought out trades. The drafting of Eichel is still a "pinch me" moment. I still cannot believe that Murray drafted the best player in the NHL Draft. All due respect to Connor McDavid. Eichel is a force of nature. He is a freak. You can't teach his kind of reach.

Wow! Just. WOW!!

More on Eichel later. This piece is focused on Murray's dogged determination and dedication to tracking down then trading for O'Reilly.

On Friday night, it was reported by the Denver Post that in the negotiating process, Ryan O’Reilly and his agent had told Colorado Avalanche brass that he wanted a $64 million contract over eight years.

The Avs didn’t see the value in O’Reilly being an $8 million cap for hit the next eight seasons so they waved goodbye. In so doing, the Avalanche lost a heart and soul player who they had already invested six seasons of development into. The Avalanche will have to extend Nathan MacKinnon’s contract in the near future. Preliminary reports have MacKinnon’s asking price at 8 years and $72 million. The kid will not be signing a hometown discounted deal either. He will get his contract terms the way he dictates them. There is no way on earth that the Avs would have agreed to pay O’Reilly $8 million per season, Matt Duchene $6 million per season, Gabriel Landeskog, and $4.5 million per season knowing that MacKinnon will be a $9 million per season man. The Avs are already a top-heavy team in terms of the salary structure. They needed blue line depth more than they need O’Reilly. In the end, the Avs refused to meet O’Reilly’s contract demands. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the guy. It’s that they couldn’t afford the guy. Not with Tim Murray and Terry Pegula making it rain in Buffalo.

Murray read the O'Reilly play. He saw the push-pull struggle between the player and the team. Murray always has his ear pressed to the railroad tracks. He hears things. He knew that O'Reilly was not long for the Avs. It's no coincidence that the trade rumors were percolating at the March NHL Trade Deadline. A deal of this size and magnitude could not have been executed in it's entirety with a hard and fast deadline on it. Hence, Murray and O'Reilly's agent crafted a meticulous plan which was aided by the asset of time.

As a preemptive strike to the inevitable O’Reilly departure from Denver, Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy executed the Grigorenko-Zadoorv-Compher-31st overall draft choice trade. In one fell swoop, Buffalo gave Colorado exactly what it needed: blue line de and center depth, a talented prospect, and $16 million in salary cap space. The Avs also traded with Boston for Carl Soderberg, the 6’3 210 lb. center who will skate with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. The Avs promptly signed Soderberg to a five year, $27 million contract. Soderberg will earn $4.75 million per season.

Such is life in the NHL.

One team covets a star player and is willing to give him what he wants to woo him to their city. The other team plans for life without one of their key building blocks by signing a cheaper alternative.

Contract negotiations with the Avs have always been acrimonious and stressful stuff for O’Reilly. He was training camp holdout when the NHL lockout ended in January 2013. That holdout made him the prime target of a Calgary Flames offer sheet which the Avs had no choice but to match. O’Reilly was also dragged into team elected arbitration last summer. O’Reilly was granted a two year, $12 million contract before the case was heard by the arbitrator. O’Reilly’s name has been involved in trade rumors since 2011. I’ve written multiple pieces in this space over the past five years about the likelihood of an ROR trade out of Denver once his contract had expired. I have trusted sources who have told me that O’Reilly and Buffalo were a match made in hockey heaven. When Terry Pegula took over ownership of the Sabres in 2011, money became no object for the GM of the Buffalo Sabres. O’Reilly’s two year, $12 million contract expires next July. He will earn $6.2 million this season. Sabres General Manager Tim Murray and O’Reilly’s agent (Newport Sports, same agent as Evander Kane) have already spoken about a contract extension.

On July 1, Murray and the agent can official begin the contract extension process. Murray is no dummy. He wasn’t going to trade Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher and the 31st overall pick in the draft for a one season roll of the dice with “The Factor….

"I walked over and introduced myself around the fifth pick or sixth pick," Murray said Friday night at the NHL Draft.

"They got him on the phone and I spoke to him. I told them that I hoped we could start talking contract extension whenever we're able to, and that's July 1."

Murray said that he is fully and completely prepared to make O’Reilly the highest paid player on the Buffalo Sabres roster.

"You know going in when you make a trade like this that negotiations are going to be starting a high number," Murray said. "We're fully prepared for that."

Thanks, Sabres.com

Murray is building his team up gut of the ice. Murray’s team is suddenly bigger, stronger, feistier, and more skilled. He traded for hulking and athletic goalie Robin Lehner on Friday morning. He traded for mean hombre Zach Bogosian, who joins Rasmus Ristolainen, Josh Gorges, Mike Weber, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe.

At center ice, Murray has built a rock solid, high compete-high skill center unit with O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Zemgus Girgensons, Sam Reinhart, and Tyler Ennis. Recently acquired pivot David Legwand, a former 2nd overall pick in the NHL Draft, will play. Cody Hodgson (buyout coming?), Matt Ellis and Cody McCormick are also on the roster.

O'Reilly immediately upgrades Buffalo’s puck possession and face-off number. He won 54% of his draws last season because he never quits on pucks. Like Girgensons, O’Reilly is a human Shop Vac. He slurps up loose pucks and doesn’t let the other team take them away from him. He refuses to lose wall battles and foot races for pucks.

"His hockey sense is off the charts," Murray said. "I think he makes everybody around him better. I love his work ethic on and off the ice. I love his compete level. There's nothing I don't like about him. "The consensus from a lot of players that I've spoken to that have played with him and been around him was that he was “The Guy…. He seems to be “The Guy…. At the world championships, for example, Tyler Ennis came back and raved about him. I've heard the same from other GMs that their players have said the same thing."

Colorado’s loss is Buffalo’s gain.

I told a friend last night that I strongly that the Bufalo Sabres will be this season's Calgary Flames, who improved for fourth worst team in the NHL standing to a Western playoff team in one season. The Flames were +20 in terms of points earned this season. The Sabres finished the Season Of The Tank with an NHL worst 54 points. I can see Dan Bylsma coaching the 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres to an 84 point season, or a +30 point improvement. Before you tell me to go to Hell., consider that the Sabres were trying to lose games last season. Also, consider that Lehner is the goalie now. The D corps doesn't have a Meszaros nor a Benoit on it. The top nine forward group now boasts of Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Evander Kane, and Samson Reinhart.

How crazy am I now?

Crazy like a fox!

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