Anyone who has read my work in this space over the course of the past 9 years knows that I am an unabashed Ryan O'Reilly fan. The Colorado Avalanche forward is the player that best reminds me of former Sabres captain Chris Drury playing in the NHL today. ROR skates well, hits, scores, kills penalties, defends like a mother, and he never quits during shifts. The kid is relentless. Last summer, when he and the Avs were embroiled in an ugly contract dispute, I was hoping that the Sabres would swoop in and make a trade for O'Reilly. When the lockout began, ROR was a man without a team. He played in Russia during the work stoppage and returned to Colorado where he was thrown an offer sheet by the Calgary Flames. The Avs matched the offer sheet and O'Reilly was once again played for the Avs. He struggled to find his game in the abbreviated 48 game season, and the Avs missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. O'Reilly won 535 of his draws, scored 6 goals and added 14 assists in 29 games played. He averaged 18:30 TOI. Not bad production for a kid who had no training camp and was engaged in a contract feud with his GM and organization. In the 2011-12 season, ROT scored 18 goals and added 37 assists in 81 games played. Again, he won 53% of his draws. He averaged 19:30 TOI at the center ice position. His coach trusted him to be on the ice in key situations, and at the end of games because he's a shut-down guy.
Many fingers of blame have been pointed in ROR's direction as a result of the losing records in Denver over the course of the past three seasons. Joe Sacco was fired from the head coaching position. He's now Ron Rolston's right hand man on the Buffalo bench. Sacco coached O'Reilly with the Lake Erie Monsters before the two matriculated to the NHL stage in Denver.
When Patrick Roy assumed the head coaching job and VP of Hockey Ops jobs in Denver, it signaled a huge change in philosophy inside the Avs organization. Roy drafted center Nathan MacKinnon with the first overall pick in the June entry draft, thus, causing a log jam at center ice. O'Reilly was promptly moved from his natural center position to left wing to a make way Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny, and Nathan MacKinnon down the middle. Roy never considered playing ROR on the fourth line as a center. So he moved him to first line LW, where he'll play until such time that he fails or succeeds. If ROR struggles at LW, he'll likely be traded in February because its not likely that he will unseat Duchene, who just signed a multi-year extension to stay in Denver. He won't beat out MacKinnon, thats for sure. Both Stastny and O'Reilly have contracts that expire on July 1, 2014. Stastny will be UFA on July 1. O'Reilly will be RFA. One of the two will have to be traded. Stastny will earn $6.6 million this season, while O'Reilly will earn $5 million.
Its looking more and more like O'Reilly is the odd man out. If he plays well this season at LW, and Stastny struggles to score, then O'reilly would likely be retained and signed to a long term deal and Stastny would be the guy looking for a new team to play for.
The Avs offer sheet to O'Reilly was a one year agreement, which means that he cannot be traded until February 2014.
In my opinion, ROR is the exact player that the Sabres need as they embark on their youth movement. He's young, skilled, and reasonably priced in today's marketplace.
If I was Darcy Regier, I'd be putting out feelers on him now. It never hurts to inquire about players. Thats what the great GMs do. Publicly, O'Reilly will say that he's okay with his situation in Colorado, but down deep it must irk him that he is being asked to change his position and to suck it up. Its not like the kid is chopped liver as a center. He's a clone of Jonathon Toews at center, for crying out loud. The kid is a turnover-generating machine. There aren't many like him in the NHL. In my opinion, O'Reilly will win a Selke Trophy or two in his NHL career. He's that good. Plus, he's only 22 years of age. 22!! He's not creeping up on 28 years of age like Stastny is. O'Reilly's best hockey years are still left ahead if him.
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post asked O'Reilly about his new position change and git his takes in the radical changes that have happened in Denver since April:
What was your reaction to Patrick Roy saying you’ll move from center to left wing:
“I’m excited about it. I’m looking at it as a good new challenge for me. I mean, I’ll be playing with two great players (Matt Duchene at center and P.A. Parenteau at right wing). I’ve played on the wing before, with Canada in the World Championships (skating with Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal) so I’m not totally unfamiliar with it.”
Did it bother you at first, hearing about the switch?
“No, not at all. I figured when they drafted (Nathan) MacKinnon, something would have to be done.”
What are your initial worries about playing a new position?
“I guess just staying on my side and not trying to do too much, not going over to P.A.’s side. I’ll need to just get used to it, but I think I’ll make the adjustment.
I'll be keeping a close eye on the O'Reilly situation this season.
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NY Islanders power forward,
Kyle Okposo, is like a lot of NHLers-- he's an avid golfer. Okposo is obviously a PGA Tour fan, too.
Which explains why Okposo was spotted by hockey fans in Rochester on Thursday afternoon. The NHLer tweeted earlier Thursday that he would ne in attendance at the PGA Championship major event at Oak Hill Country Club in suburban Rochester.
The guy loves golf and he loves to watch the pros play live in person. Thats cool.
On Friday afternoon, Okposo was spotted having lunch at a spot near the Naval Park on Buffalo's waterfront, and it immediately grabbed the attention of Sabres fans on Twitter. It made for a tasty lunchtime treat.
This Sabres fan reached out to Okposo (@BookerT2116) on Twitter and put him on the spot by asking this beauty of a question?
Okposo hasn't responded to the question yet.
Begs the question:
Why, if the PGA Championship was in progress 70 miles away from Buffalo in Rochester, was Okposo spotted at a waterfront eatery in Buffalo during the Noon hour?
Its a free country. He can eat where he wants to, when he wants to.
Its odd that Okposo was seen having lunch at an establishment that is merely a Par 3 from the home of the Buffalo Sabres, the First Niagara Center.
Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm....
Why was Kyle Okposo seen having lunch on Buffalo's waterfront on Friday afternoon?
Does he love beef on weck and Buffalo wings?
Okposo's good friend and fellow Minnesotan, Drew Stafford, in back home right now. He also is friendly with fellow Gopher Thomas Vanek. Are the Sabres looking for a younger replacement for Jason Pominville on their top line? Okposo would fill that bill nicely, especially if Rolston plans on reuniting the Foligno-Ennis-Stafford line this season.
The burly, skilled RW has three years remaining on his current contract with the NY Islanders. His AAV is $2.8 million per season. The Minnesota Golden Gopher alum scored a career high 24 goals and 21 assists in 79 games in 2011-12. He also 19 and 18 goal seasons on his resume. Okposo scored 3 goals and added an assist in the Islanders six game playoff series vs. Pittsburgh in May.
The Islanders have the most available cap space in the NHL right now with $15.6 million. They have a ton of skilled forwards in their top 9. They need D and an upgrade at goaltender.
Okposo is a 25 year old power forward with a ton of upside.
If he likes Oak Hill so much, he should come to Buffalo-Rochester and stay/play a while.
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Buffalo Sabres AGM Kevin Devine, his director of professional scouting, Jon Christiano, and the Sabres scouts know good players when they see them. Just look at the war chest of young, lethal weapons that the Sabres scouting team has accumulated the past five seasons. Buffalo has one of the top two pools of prospects in the NHL. This youth movement is going to be fun to watch!
Go down the list:
Luke Adam
Tyler Ennis
Tyler Myers
Marcus Foligno
Jhonas Enroth
Mark Pysyk
Dan Catenacci
Brayden McNabb
Corey Tropp
Joel Armia
Mikhail Grigorenko
Zemgus Girgensons
Rasmus Ristolainen
Nikita Zadorov
Jake McCabe
Justin Bailey
You can add two more names to this impressive constellation of new Sabres stars:
JT Compher and Gustav Possler.
American forward J.T. Compher and Swedish forward Gustav Possler have done exceptionally well in their time at WJC Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid.
Compher has a mean streak a mile wide and he's got skill to back it up. That why Devine and Christiano invested the 35th overall pick in the June pick in the Illinois native. He's a ferocious competitor in space and on the walls. He's a tireless skater and he back checks like his life depends on it. Team USA coaches have called him a "sh-- disturber".
Thats a compliment.
"He's a good skater," Christiano said. "Bit of a dog on the bone as far as trying to play hard. Defending, he's not delinquent in that regard. I think he understands he's got to take pucks away and block shots and be a guy that plays 200 feet. … I liked his skating and that dog-on-a-bone attitude
."
He's a smack-talkn', face-washin', elbows high winger, who's got a motor and a mouth that never stops!
He likes the penalty box, too.Not sure if he licks visors.
At the Team USA WJC training camp on Lake Placid, Compher has found himself parked in the penalty box on more than one occasion because of his post whistle antics. He's getting in the heads of the Finns and the Swedes and it seems to be working. He's been playing center and is causing havoc with his neutral zone D. He's a turnover-creating machine. Its uncanny how he creates pressure with his feet and stick, finishes puck carriers with his body and it causes fat turnovers. Its really impressive to watch this kid work in open ice and in tight spaces.
Compher plays with a lot of Steve Ott's passion.
He told me at Sabres prospects camp that he loves how Ryan Callahan and Jonathon Toews play the game.
Team USA should write his name on their roster in Sharpie, not pen. he's a keeper.
He's bound for the University of Michigan.
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Possler, RW was selected in the fifth round ( # 130) in the 2013 NHL Draft. Right now, he is leading team Sweden's WJC Evaluation camp team in scoring with four points (2 G, 2 A assists) in three games.
"Especially on the power play, it looks like he knows where the guys are and gets them the puck," Sabres director of professional scouting Jon Christiano told NHL.com. "He looks like a crafty player. He can move the puck to the open man and is happy doing that. His skating looks good. He's a player for us to continue to look at."
Compher will be beginning his hockey career at the University of Michigan in the fall while
Possler likely will attend Sabres training camp.Possler will mist likely play one (maybe more) season with Modo in the Swedish Hockey League.He looked great at Sabres prospects camp last month.
"It's fun to play in front of the Buffalo fans," Possler said. "You want to show what you can do
."
Thanks, Adam Kimmelman of NHL.com
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