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Ryan O'Reilly is feeling the love in Buffalo these days. It's a constant hockey buzz that he has never experienced before in his hockey career. O'Reilly, 24, is going to be a focal point for the Sabres for the next eight seasons. The rabid hockey fans of Buffalo are already appreciative of ROR's hockey pedigree.
"Everywhere you go people are saying that they’re happy to have me here, they can’t wait for the season,… O’Reilly said. “It’s a great thing to be a part of. I’ve never experienced it. Everywhere I go everyone’s talking about hockey and can’t wait for the season.…
Buffalonians respect hard work and grit. They demand it.
They also hold in high regard NHL players who pull on their work boots and do their job to the highest degree. O'Reilly is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Sabres. In 427 career NHL games (all in Denver), ROR has scored 90 goals and added 156 assists. The offensive production is only a fraction of what ROR brings to the rink. He wins faceoffs, passes like a magician, blocks shots, hits, skates like the wind and shuts down the enemy's #1 and #2 center. He's a five tool guy.
O'Reilly said Thursday that he wants his teammates to forget their losing past and to start thinking about winning a Stanley Cup.
“Obviously the goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and I think people expect that in a few years. But for us, let’s try to do it right now,… O’Reilly said. “Your career is only so long, you never know what can happen. I expect every time we touch the ice, it’s towards a Stanley Cup – whether it’s now or in a few years or whatever game it is, we’re preparing to win that.…
Its easy to see why O'Reilly has already made a positive impression with his new teammates.
Tyler Ennis told me earlier this week that he marvels at O'Reilly's attention to detail. Ennis and O'Reilly played together on Team Canada's gold medal winning squad at the IIHF World Championships in Prague in May. Ennis will likely be skating with ROR and Evander Kane when on ice scrimmages begin at Friday's training camp .
While ROR's currrent Buffalo fans and teammates are singing his praises, two team leaders of his former team took some parting shots at O'Reilly on Thursday, three and a half months after the blockbuster trade.
"Management did a great job with the hand they were dealt," Johnson told the Denver Post on day one of Avs training camp. "Ryan kind of put himself in a situation where he said he wanted to be here, but didn't want to be here because of his contract demands."
Johnson questioning O'Reilly's intentions is surprising to me. I think its bad form for a players to take their dirty laundry to the media. I'm wondering if Johnson called or sent a text to ROR this summer. I bet not. Sounds to me like Johnson has been holding his tongue on the O'Reilly factor for a while. Johnson is pretty much saying that O'Reilly was talking out of both sides of his mouth when he was an Avalanche star player. Johnson burned up and mad that ROR signed a monster deal in Buffalo?
O'Reilly was reportedly seeking an 8 year, $8 million deal from the Avs. That number obviously freaked out Johnson, Landeskog, Duchene and the rest of the Avs. Nathan MacKinnon will soon be be signing a jumbo sized contract in the 8 year, $75 million range. Duchene will need to be re-signed in the next couple of years. With the sagging Canadian dollar causing acid reflux among NHL capologists and the shrinking NHL salary cap projected to stay flat or perhaps decrease in the next couple of months, the hand writing was on the wall for O'Reilly. It was time to go.
Avs #2 center Matt Duchene is Colomillion rado's highest-paid player at $6 million per season. Captain Gabe Landeskog and Carl Soderberg have the longest terms, through 2019-20.
If O'Reilly was be given $8 million per season over eight seasons that would have created a huge problem among the other stars in the Colorado room.
There's only so much money to spread around the star players to keep them happy.
Landeskog told the Denver Post that he agrees with Johnson's takes on O'Reilly.
"It was pretty clear for a long time," Landeskog said. "There were some mixed messages. But to each is their own. I would have to agree with Erik. The most important thing is, our hockey team got better and that's something the fans should be excited about."
Buffalo GM Tim Murray targeted O'Reilly some time ago. He approached Joe Sakic about a trade at the NHL trade deadline in March. The timing was not in Murray's favor due to the magnitude of the compensation that he would have to send Colorado's way. On the NHL draft floor on June 26, Murray and Sakic completed the trade. Murray sent former 12th overall pick center Mikhail Grigorenko and fellow Russian first rounder defenseman Nikita Zadorov to Colorado along with University of Michigan captain J.T. Compher. Boston University forward A.J. Greer also included in the deal because he was the 39th pick in the draft. The O'Reilly trade originally included Buffalo's 31st pick in the 2015 draft, however, the Avs traded that pick for #39 and two future picks including a 2016 second-round pick.
"We got some great players in return for him," Johnson said of O'Reilly, who was fifth in goal scoring for Colorado last season. "We wish him well, but we're really happy with the guys that we got. That's kind of out of the way, and not a distraction."
O'Reilly, who is under contract this season for $6.2 million ( year two of his $12 million deal he signed with the Avs in 2014) agreed to a seven-year, $52.5 million extension with the Sabres on July 2. Tim Murray wasted no time making O'Reilly the highest paid player in Buffalo Sabres history. Trading away Grigorenko, Zadorov, Compher and a second round pick was just the cost of doing business for Murray. At the end of the day, Murray got his man and O'Reilly got his money.
Landeskog and Johsnon are now left to throw shade at their former teammate. So be it.
"Ryan was a good teammate, and I enjoyed playing with him," Landeskog said. "For whatever reason, it didn't work out. That's not up to me to decide.
"But we're excited to have Grigorenko and Zadorov in our dressing room and excited to have two young players who have huge potential in this league. That's the exciting part. You're always going to be sad to see teammates go, but it's part of the business, and long term I think this will be good for us."
The ROR trade is a win-win because the long suffering fans of the Buffalo Sabres are tickled to have a 200 foot terror like O'Reilly in blue and gold.
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It's finally here! Buffalo Sabres training camp is officially underway which means the TANK is officially dead, buried, and in the scrap yard.
Ryan O'Reilly reported to Buffalo Sabres training camp on Thursday. He met with media for the first time since he was traded to Buffalo in late June .
ROR is ready to take on more of a leadership role with the Sabres than he had previously with the Colorado Avalanche.
Evander Kane said that he is setting his sights in scoring a lot of goals and leading hia new teammates to the postseason for the first time in a long time.
Thanks, Sabres.com
Captain Brian Gionta will now have more veteran voices in his leadership group than he had during the season from hell in 2014-15. Kane and O'Reilly will provide support and mentorship to The group that already includes vets Josh Gorges, Zach Bogosian, Mike Weber, Matt Moulson, Zemgus Girgensons, Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis. This is a far cry better leadership group than the makeshift group that led the Sabres to a 30th place finish last season.
Youngsters Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhsrt, Nic Deslauriers, Mark Pysyk will be supported by qualified, battle tested veteran professionals.
Dan Bylsma and his coaches will have experienced leaders at the ready to help guide the kids through their maturation and development processes.
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