7. Buffalo.
Why are they trading him? He's been their best player outside of Eichel, RHD puck movers/point shots are highly coveted and they'll probably immediately be looking for a replacement if they deal him, and they might now FINALLY have a respectable defence. Dahlin slotting everyone down one spot including Risto to #2 makes that back end a lot less ugly. Especially if Guhle or McCabe can play at a top 4 level.
They could even shelter Ristolainen this year if they wanted
Scandella-Dahlin
Guhle-Risto
McCabe-Bogo
Best player besides Eichel? You’re nuts. I won’t even go into Reinhart I’ll just talk about O’Reilly. Ryan O’Reilly is really damn good. I’ll let Berkshire explain.
Another player who is chronically underrated, Ryan O’Reilly faced the toughest minutes of any centre in the NHL last season and excelled in them. O’Reilly is an incredibly rounded player, boasting a strong playmaking mind coupled with incredible transition skills and defensive instincts. He is nearly as aggressive without the puck as Scheifele, but couples that with almost never making a mistake with the puck relative to his peers, in all three zones.
In transition that rarity for making mistakes with the puck is a big contributor to his game, where he nearly matches Kopitar’s pass success rates relative to his teammates, and makes nearly as many passes as well. O’Reilly can do it all, in every situation, and doesn’t really have a glaring weakness to his game. He’s the kind of player every coach falls in love with, except for maybe Patrick Roy I guess.
