To know Ryan O'Reilly is to know that he is a proud, humble young man.
He will never place his needs above those of his team and teammates.
After Buffalo's galling 5-1 loss on Tuesday night, O'Reilly told me without hesitation that he has to be better for his team to fight its way out of the five game losing rut the Sabres find themselves in today. O'Reilly scored his team's only goal on Tuesday night but he didn't want to hear any plaudits or props for the power play goal. O'Reilly told me that he gets paid to score, win faceoffs, back check, set up his line mates, kill penalties, and defend the entire 200 foot sheet. He told me that it's his job. It's what he is paid to do.
If he could have gone back out on the ice for another 60 minute game after his Sabres got spanked by Jagr and the Cats, he would have. That's how O'Reilly is wired.
Nobody works harder than he does. Nobody care more than he does. Nobody hates losing more than he does.
The Sabres are having trouble scoring goals this season.
They have lost 13 one-goal games in their first 40 games of his first season in Buffalo. O'Reilly is the leading scorer on the team with 16 tallies, and 7 PPGs. O'Reilly will tell you that he has to bury more of his 5-on-5 scoring chances. He has 18 assists (34 points in 40 games) and he will tell you that he can always give more. He leads NHL forwards in TOI with 21 minutes per game. He has more to give you.
He has taken 100 shots and has scored 16 times. That's a team high 16% shot success rate. It's not where O'Reilly wants to be. He wants to convert 20-25% of his shot attempts.
ROR has 22 blocked shots and 22 takeaways. He believes that he can give more.
He has won 581 faceoffs and has lost 417 draws, which is a 58.5 faceoff win percentage. It doesn't matter. ROR will tell you that he should be winning 65% of his draws.
Hockey is ROR's business and business is good.
He is never satisfied. He will tell you that he can always be better.
It's a job that he takes very seriously.
Last summer, O'Reilly was traded from Colorado to Buffalo for Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, JT Compher and the 31st overall pick in the NHL Draft. moments before the puck drop on the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Florida.
O'Reilly immediately signed the largest contract in Buffalo Sabres history when he inked his 7 years, $52 million deal. Since that July day, O'Reilly has been the best player that Buffalo has seen since Chris Drury and Danny Briere were allowed to skate away in 2007.
I first spoke with O'Reilly in August after he and Brian Gionta assembled several of his new Sabers teammates for informal captain skate sessions at HARBORCenter. He told me that he relished playing amore of a leadership role in Buffalo than he had in Colorado. O'Reilly told me that he had more to give to his young and old teammates than he had in Denver. Over the years, the Avalanche room was full of leaders like Gabe Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Paul Statsny, Erik Johnson, and Jarome Iginla. O'Reilly told me that it was his intention to play more of a leadership role in that group but it never quite materialized that way. ROR's last few years in Denver were bereft of free agent offer sheets, arbitration ploys and contract squabbles in management. The Avalanche never really got to appreciate the full potential of Ryan O'Reilly's leadership in the room and on the ice.
Their loss was Buffalo's gain.
Years ago, when Tim Murray was AGM of the Ottawa Senators, he coveted O'Reilly and tried to bring him to the Sens. Luckily for the Sabres, that deal never materialized.
It took me and Murray five years to finally deliver O'Reilly to you Buffalo. You are welcome, Sabres fan.
O'Reilly is the de facto boss of the Buffalo room. He performs all of the captain's duties and supports the team's leaders. The only thing he needs now is the "C" sewn across the heart of his crossed sword sweater to make it official.
His locker is directly next door to captain Brian Gionta's in the Buffalo room. More often than not after games and practices, the media seek O'Reilly out for his comments and his tales before they ask Gionta. That's not a slight to the 37 year old Gionta who is on the back nine holes of his illustrious NHL career. It's more of a show of respect to O'Reilly that his opinions matter not only to his teammates and coaches but the media and the fans as well.
The rebuilding Sabres needed a leader like ROR to guide them through the next chapter of their metamorphosis from last place team to playoff contender. O'Reilly has been just what the doctor since he arrived in Buffalo.
He leads the Sabres in nearly every measurable statistical category.
O'Reilly is the consummate pro and the hardest working guy on the ice, be it in practice or during games.
Today, O'Reilly's hard work and professionalism was rewarded. He was named to his first ever NHL All Star team at age 24.
There may be guys with more God given talent in the NHL right now that Ryan O'Reilly.
There aren't many who have his iron will, compete level, and disdain for losing.
His warrior spirit, drive, determination and desire to make his team a Stanley Cup winner is what makes him The Factor.
ROR spoke with the team's website after Wednesday's practice. O'Reilly reiterated that he and his teammates have a lot more work to do.
“I wanted this,… O’Reilly said. “I wanted to prove that I can be a huge part of a team. I’m obviously still trying to do it, and obviously being an All-Star is a step in that, but there’s so many things going forward that if you don’t win hockey games or be a team that competes for a Cup, I don’t think it matters, you know?
“We want to be a real team, a competitive team, and we’re not that right now. That’s something we have to get back to.…
Spoken like a leader of men and an NHL All Star.
Here are you NHL All Stars pic.twitter.com/zyOSvIHrlj
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 6, 2016**
On Tuesday night, the Anaheim Ducks sent their director of player personnel to Buffalo to scout the Sabres-Cats game in person. The same gentleman has been seen in the press box at First Niagara Center several times since October. The Tampa Lightning also sent their assistant general manager to scout Buffalo-Florida. Tampa have been frequent fliers in Buffalo despite the fact that the Sabres and Bolts have played all four of their scheduled games already this season. The Dallas Stars sent their head pro scout to Buffalo as well. The AGM of the Montreal Canadiens has been a regular in Buffalo this season, as has director of player personnel for the St. Louis Blues. The Winnipeg Jets have sent their director of player personnel and their their AGM to Buffalo. The LA Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins are also frequent visitors to Buffalo.
I know. NHL scouts are assigned regions and specific NHL teams that they are responsible for handicapping and scouting. I get it. I have several friends who are veteran NHL scouts. One night they are in Sarnia, the next night at the ACC in Toronto, and two nights later they are in Buffalo, then Detroit, and Pittsburgh, with frequent AHL pit stops sprinkled in.
The NHL trade deadline is on February 29 and I can tell you that the trade market is unequivocally percolating right now.
Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning was on Vancouver radio on Tuesday and shed some serious insight into what the cost is for young forwards like Jonathon Drouin, Ryan Johansen and Kerby Rychel.
Benning said his iPhone has been blowing up with calls and texts from his NHL GM counterparts who are trying to get a leg up on their competition with the NHL trade deadline fast approaching.
“There’s not a lot going on in the whole league right now. I’ve never really seen a year like this. But there’s lot of teams that are tight against the cap.
When teams call (Canucks), they want our young players. We’re in a transition period here. We’re keeping our young players and we want to develop them into the next core group of our team.…
Benning will not be trading Bo Horvat, Jared McCann, Jake Virtanen, or Ben Hutton for Ryan Johansen, Jonathon Drouin, or Kerby Rychel.
The Sedins, Ryan Miller, Alex Burrows, Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, et al are more likely to be traded than a hot young prospect (see: former 1st and 2nd round draft choices) will be.
Problem is Benning's peers don't want Benning's veterans.
They want his USDA Grade A top prospects. Benning is in no position to trade his future stars right now so he respectfully declines the offers then hangs up.
He files away the requests for a rainy day in the future when his team isn't rebuilding on the fly.
On trading for Jonathan Drouin or Ryan Johansen, Benning said:
“I’ve talked to both general managers about both players. The prices for both players are really high. From our perspective, maybe we don’t have the prospect depth at certain positions that they’re looking to fill to make those types of trades.…
Benning rightly and candidly illuminated the trade currency will be for Johansen, Drouin, and Rychel. It may be too rich for Vancouver's blood, however, there are Ttams that have drafted well and have stock-piled superior young prospects like Buffalo, Edmonton, Minnesota, Calgary, Anaheim, Arizona and Winnipeg who appear to be ready to stick a fork in Johansen, Drouin, and Rychel.
Having the Grade A prospects and young pros that have been indoctrinated into the NHL already that enemy GMs covet is one thing. Having available salary cap space in a so-tight-it's-squeaking-market is another thing.
The team's with the best prospects and most cap space will command these trades.
For example, the Buffalo Sabres have a bevy of young pros, some untouchables, others not so much. They also have $8+ million in salary cap space. They also have 11 picks in this June's Auston Matthews draft, which will be held in The Queen City.
In he 2016 NHL Draft, Murray has his first and second rounders, 3 third rounders, one fourth rounder, 2 fifth rounders and 2 seventh rounders.
Murray would never trade his 2016 first rounder because he is hosting the party and wants to make a huge splash on the draft floor (see Ryan O'Reilly trade in 2015).
However, Murray has his 2017 first round pick and two second round draft choices to use as currency to land a trade for Johansen, Rychel, or Drouin.
Murray needs scoring in a big, bad, Buffalo way. His team has lost 13 one goal games in their first 40 games and in 10 of their last 14 games they have scored 2 pucks or less.
Don't kid yourself. Murray has the currency to make a deal for either Johansen, Rychel or Drouin.
People I talk to tell me that opposing GMs and personnel men really like Tyler Ennis. They also like Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons.
Enemy GMs love Jack Eichel, Rasmus Ristolainen, Samson Reinhart, Jake McCabe and Mark Pysyk, however, that trio is untouchable. So don't even go there!
Murray also has forward prospects Hudson Fasching ( University Minnesota) and Nick Baptiste.
Murray also has one second, three third rounders and two fifth rounders to trade this season.
Looking around at the teams that are hot on Buffalo's scouting trail you see that there are several teams who have very few if any picks in the top 30 and top 60 picks in this talent rich 2016 NHL draft.
In 2016, Anaheim have their first rounder and two third rounders, however, they need a second rounder.
Columbus have their first, second and third rounders but could always use more picks in the top 30,60,90.
Minnesota is interesting because they have their 2016 first rounder but no second, third, or fifth rounders.
Winnipeg has its 2016 first and second rounders but no third rounder.
St. Louis has its first through fifth rounders, no sixth rounder and a seventh rounder. The Blues are always looking for more picks in the top 60.
Tampa has their first rounder, two second rounders. They can always use more picks in the top 60.
Dallas have one pick in the first through sixth rounds. They need a seventh rounder. Jim Nill always wants more picks in the top 60-90 picks.
Tim Murray can build a delicious package of premium picks, prospects and roster players to entice Anaheim, Tampa, Columbus, St. Louis, Minnesota, and others to make a trade so that he can procure a scoring winger and a left side D who can play top four minutes in all situations.
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