McEichel Monday began with a resounding thud . It wasn't supposed to end this way.
The well rested Buffalo Sabres stole a loser point from the road weary Washington Capitals.
By gaining a point in the McEichel standings, the Buffalo lead on the 29th place Oilers was down to just 3 points but only so a couple of hours. The Buffalo lead on 28th place Coyotes was cut to 5 points.
The beauty of McEichel Monday is that the Oilers and Coyotes could help the Sabres in their later puck drops. The Oilers-Leafs game began at 10pm EDT while the Coyotes-Kings game began at 10:30pm EDT.
Mere moments after the Sabres lost in the shootout, the Edmonton Oilers pounced on the limp and lifeless Maple Loafs and scored 4 goals on their first 7 shots in the first 11 minutes of the game. Thats how the game would end
Huge opening frame for the #Oilers, 4-1 thanks to two goals from Pouliot! #TORvsEDM | READ > http://t.co/RIkVPBpFM0 pic.twitter.com/F4XlQWnlaB
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 17, 2015
Meanwhile in LA, the Arizona Coyotes were shutout 1-0.
Your updated McEichel standings:
Arizona 50 points Edmonton 50 points Buffalo 45 points
Buffalo will play in Boston on Tuesday night. Matt Hackett will start in goal for the Sabres.
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Dateline Boca Raton, Florida.
NHL GMs are meeting until Wednesday and will be discussing such things as goaltender interference and 3-on-3 overtime.
*Yawn*
I'm not going to bore you with the gooey details of the GMs meetings. Yes, I believe in fairness, protecting goalies enforcing rules and creating a better OT format. However, I'd rather talk about hockey trades.
Isn't that the real reason why NHL GMs are meeting this week?
The NHL trade deadline was two weeks ago. Many deals got done on March 2. Countless others were worked on but were too big and complicated to execute before the 3pm trade deadline. Sometimes the best deals are the ones that don't get done. NHL GMs brought their unfinished trade proposals and the notes from their pre-trade deadline conversations with them to Boca Raton where they will be furthered developed into draft day and summer time trades.
On Monday, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray created a hockey buzz when he reportedly planted the seed that he is ready, willing and able to trade the second of his three 2015 first round draft choices.
@BuffaloSabres are open for business. GM Tim Murray told counterparts he is willing to trade his second 1st round pick in '15 for right deal
— Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) March 16, 2015
In February, Murray shocked the hockey world when he traded Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Brendan Lemieux, Joel Armia and the lowest rated of his three 2015 first rounders in exchange for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian. Murray may have another monster sized trade up his sleeve.
Is Murray on the verge of trading his second rated 2015 first rounders and prospects Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Zadorov to Colorado in exchange center Ryan O'Reilly and a second rounder?
You'll recall that before the trade deadline that there were months of chatter that linked Murray to O'Reilly, who has one year remaining in his two year $12 million deal. Murray will be moving from re-building mode to building mode this summer. His modus operandi is to add another twenty-something who has created an impressive NHL body of work. Ryan O'Reilly fits that bill. He's played six seasons in Colorado and has evolved into one of the top four two-way centers in teh HL.
The Kane-Bogosian trade showed the hockey world that Murray isn't bluffing when he says that he will trade his assets fir the right players. In Kane and Bogosian, he took possession of two, 23 year old studs who he will use as pillars of his rebuilt organization for years to come.
"The Factor… wasn't traded on March 2 which allowed the Avalanche and his advisors to wait until the summer to talk about a long term extension?
O’Reilly is earning $5.8 million this season. He will be paid $6.2 million for the 2015-16 season. ROR is a $6million AAV per season which means that his qualifying offer from the Avs on his next contract will be $6.5 million. O’Reilly will become UFA in July 2016 and you better believe that his ask will be in the $7 to $7.5 million AAV range per season. The 23 year old will be looking for a contract team in the 5-6 year neighborhood.
Trading for O’Reilly isn’t going to be easy because NHL GMs that are interested in him want to know up front whether or not O’Reilly is committed to signing his name on the line regarding a long term contract extension with that club that trades for him. In other words, no NHL GM is going to mortgage the farm and trade a whack of assets to Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic only to have O’Reilly want to test the free agent market next summer. That’s the kind of madness that will get an NHL GM and his assistant fired in today’s NHL. There are teams have been and still continue to be interested in trading for the two-way center. Those teams want the assurance that they have a legitimate shot at signing ROR to a long term $42-$49 million contract extension.
In terms of trade compensation for O’Reilly, the Avs are looking for a difference making defenseman, a highly regarded prospect and a first round draft choice.
My guess is that the Avs will wait until after the NHL draft and see what the market will bear for O’Reilly, who at present is the highest paid player on the Colorado roster. Matt Duchene will earn $6 million per season for the next three seasons after this one. O’Reilly’s qualifying offer of $6.5+ million will be a jagged pill for the Avs to swallow. Nathan MacKinnon’s entry level deal will be expiring at the end of the 2016-17 season, and he will be looking for a multi-year deal in the $7 million AAV per season range. The Avs be working on that extension well enough in advance to insure that they retain their best player for the next 8 seasons.
O’Reily will likely be traded this summer. I foresee an Evander Kane-Tyler Myers style hockey trade where several assets in the form of players, picks, and prospects change hands.
Tim Murray has the currency and he's open for business.