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For Buffalo Sabres prospect Justin Bailey, one door has closed while another one has opened. He's taking high octane offensive to a new team that is in search of a Memorial Cup victory this spring.
Soo Greyhounds GM Kyle Raftis announced today that he has acquired Bailey from the Kitchener Rangers.
The Greyhounds surely coveted Bailey because they are sending the following package to Kitchener:
David Miller and four draft picks to Kitchener; 3rd Round (Plymouth’s) in 2015, 2nd Round in 2016, 2nd Round in 2018 and a conditional 3rd Round in 2018.
Bailey, the 6'3" 210 lb. power forward from Williamsville NY, is in his junior year with the Rangers and was leading them in scoring at the time of the trade.
In 35 games he has 22 goals and 19 assists, good for 41 points. Seven of those goals have come on the power play, while two others have come shorthanded.
With the Rangers he has previously been named their team’s Most Valuable Player (2013-14) and Rookie of the Year (2012-13).
Bailey is leaving the last place Rangers ( Midwest Division) for the first place Greyhounds (West Division).
The Greyhounds are loaded with veteran talent like Team Canada WJC gold medalist d-man extraordinaire Darnell Nurse (Edmonton Oilers) and Team Russia WJC silver medalist and scoring star Sergei Tolchinsky (Hurricanes).
The 19-year old was selected in the 2nd Round (52nd overall) by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year entry-level deal with the club this past November.
Bailey is expected to meet the Hounds on Tuesday in Sudbury.
@OHLRangers pic.twitter.com/1wAf6MvKLG
— Justin Bailey (@JustinBailey95) January 6, 2015
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I want Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray to trade one of his 2015 first round draft choices to the Arizona Coyotes today for Max Domi. I want Domi and Samson Reinhart to skate together in the Blue & Gold for the next decade or more. I was fully and completely blown away by the chemistry and kinship that Domi and Reinhart demonstrated in seven games playing together at the World Juniors. They were every bit as dominant as Toews and Kane, Getzlaf and Perry, and Thornton and Marleau. Every sniper needs a set-up man. Hell, if they were rock stars, Reinhart and Domi would be Anthony Kiedis and “Flea… from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The cerebral front man and the extroverted collaborator. Reinhart and Domi laid down the funky beats that brought the people out of their seats in Montreal and Toronto. Reinhart and Domi ignited fireworks and created explosive rhythms and harmonies that will be reverberating in Canada’s collective heart for years to come. On Monday night, Reinhart and Domi slayed the dragon that had been terrorizing Canada for the past five years. The dynamic duo delivered the illusive WJC gold medal back to its rightful home.
Thanks, TSN
It’s remarkable how the two young guns speak the same hockey language and have demonstrated the innate ability to read one another’s minds while on the ice. Maybe it’s in their DNA. Reinhart’s father Paul is a former NHLer. Buffalo Sabres fans know all too well about Max’s old man, Tie. It’s truly uncanny how Reinhart can flick no-look passes and hit Domi’s tape bang on. Their non-verbal interplay on the ice together was a real revelation to me as I watched in awe every shift that they skated and created together en route to their gold medal winning conquest.
If the NHL season ended today, Murray would own three first round picks in the McDavid draft: 3rd overall, 23rd (NY Islanders) and 24h (St. Louis Blues).
Were I Murray, I’d phone up Desert Dogs GM Don Maloney this morning and offer him either the Islanders or the Blues 2015 draft pick. I would also include Tyler Myers and power forward Drew Stafford in exchange for winger Max Domi and their 2015 first rounder, which is 4th overall today. Former Sabres GM Darcy Regier serves as Maloney’s assistant GM and I’m going to go ahead and assume that he would be in favor of taking possession of Myers and Stafford, whom he drafted in the first round out of Kelowna (12th overall), and the University of North Dakota (13th overall) respectively in 2008 and 2004. I may even be open to including power forward prospect Joel Armia in the deal if it means that the Sabres would get their man Domi. Imagine a Buffalo roster that includes forwards Zemgus Girgensons, Sam Reinhart, Max Domi, Mikhail Grigorenko, Brendan Lemieux, Hudson Fasching, Nic Deslauriers, J.T. Compher, Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste and more.
Yes, THAT Max Domi. The very same slick winger who starred alongside Sabres star of the future Samson Reinhart and Anthony Duclair on Team Canada’s gold medal winning team.
I knew that Samson Reinhart was a great player before the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. I had no idea that he was THAT great! As I watched the WJC tourney on TV, I found my thoughts focusing on creating a winning strategy that would allow the Sabres to make a trade to create a Reinhart-Domi union in Buffalo.
In my opinion, Reinhart was the tournament MVP of the entire tourney. He was the spoon that stirred the delicious drink for Team Canada’s success. The second overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft (Kootenay Ice) scored three game winning goals, including the gold medal game GWG; he took all of the critical D-zone face offs, played fast and furious hockey, and was on the ice in crunch time. Perhaps his crowning achievement was feeding Domi and Duclair a steady diet of perfect passes in scoring areas. Reinhart got his wingers involved in games early and often. Team Canada head coach Benoit Groulx should be lauded for riding the power trio all the way to the gold medal win. The line was remarkable. They created scoring chances every shift that they were on the ice. Having such a productive line early in the tourney allowed Groulx to mix and match his lines so that they could create secondary scoring for Team Canada. That’s how the Nic Petan (11 points), Connor McDavid (11 points), Lazar (9 points) line was created.
I knew my Domi to Buffalo idea was a good one when I heard Pierre McGuire and Mike Richards talk about the same subject on TSN 1050 in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I respect the hell out of McGuire and Richards and I tend to agree with their opinions more often than not. In the case of a Domi trade to Buffalo, I think it’s a no brainer. The two players created the type of magic that Reinhart and Domi in their gold medal marathon run that NHL GM, coaches and fans dream of at night. Reinhart potted three game winning goals in the tourney, including the gold medal GWG. With Domi at his side in Buffalo, they would collaborate on playoff GWGs, and dare I say, Stanley Cup GWGs.
Tim Murray has ben quiet lately. Its as if he is lurking in the shadows, waiting for his 29 other NHL GM counterparts to blow his doors off with trade proposals. I need TMGM to shock the hockey world by pulling off a blockbuster trade for Domi. The Sabres are sitting in the 28th overall slot in the NHL standings and they sure could use an infusion of adrenaline. For that reason, I would trade Myers, Stafford and a first rounder today for Max Domi and Arizona’s first rounder.
Would you?