Buffalo Sabres snag major haul in Ryan O'Reilly trade

Ryan O’Reilly finally moves on, as the Buffalo Sabres gain three players and two draft picks in a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Blues.

The Ryan O’Reilly era is officially over in Western New York, after months of speculation. The Buffalo Sabres moved him on Sunday night, in a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Blues.

As reported by Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, the Sabres received three players and two draft picks as part of the trade. One of the picks is a first-rounder for 2019, although it is top 10 protected, while the other is a second-rounder in 2021.

The three players are Tage Thompson, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund. Of the trio, Berglund has the most accomplished NHL career to date.

The 30-year-old has amassed 322 points in 694 games, during his 10 years in the NHL. He is just one season removed from a career-high 23 goals.

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The Sabres also have the security of Berglund being under team control for the next four years, with a reasonable cap hit of $3.85 million per season. His veteran experience and leadership should prove extremely useful for a roster needing these attributes.

In general, the three additions help boost the strength of the Swords’ bottom-six center options. Of course, how much this makes up for the loss of O’Reilly, is another thing.

One the one hand, the Sabres lose a top-notch center. The 2009 33rd overall draft pick has been one of their only consistent and productive players during his three seasons with the team.

On the other hand, there are those who argue it’s a case of addition by subtraction after ongoing rumors that the 27-year-old was unhappy in Buffalo. The thinking was the Sabres needed to move him, with his apparent attitude proving detrimental to the team.

Regardless, one area the Swords did get an undisputed positive, is in respect of O’Reilly’s contract which still has five years to run, with an annual cap hit of $7.5 million. None of the salary was retained and the Blues had to pay the $7.5 million bonus he was owed on July 1.

General manager Jason Botterill discussed his mindset for deciding whether to make the trade or not. As per Sportsnet, Botterill said:

"“We’ve always said, if we are going to make any movements on our team, we certainly will look at them because of where we finished in the standings. But it would have to make sense to make it, to improve our team.”"

The trade of O’Reilly represents another step in the Sabres’ attempts to turnaround the culture of the franchise and return to winning ways. The recent decision to not make a qualifying offer to Robin Lehner, was apparently also influenced — at least in part — by concerns about the player’s attitude.

Not bringing back Lehner led to the Sabres’ full invested efforts to sign Carter Hutton. Along with Berglund, Hutton will be expected to provide a steadying influence to help a young roster littered with talent, but needing positive presences to fulfill their potential.

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In related news on a busy first day of free agency, the Sabres also signed Scott Wedgewood (Goaltender), Brandon Hickey (Defenseman) and Scott Wilson (Forward).

Next: Carter Hutton joins Sabres

What’s your take on the O’Reilly trade? Are you impressed with what the Buffalo Sabres got in return, or should they have held onto the center? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Buffalo Sabres snag major haul in Ryan O’Reilly trade

By Paul Taylor | Jul 2, 2018

Ryan O’Reilly finally moves on, as the Buffalo Sabres gain three players and two draft picks in a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Blues.