Is Ryan O'Reilly the most underrated forward in the NHL?

[AustonsNostrils]

Over and over when ROR's name comes up on this forum and elsewhere people opine he's an elite 2C or a lower tier 1C. The numbers say otherwise though, those that put all the emphasis on point totals will disagree and that's a bias that dominates the sport from the fans, the media and management. Sportsnet this past September did quite an exhaustive analysis ranking NHL centers using the past 3 seasons of stats (2014-2017) and ROR ranked 8th. Today I see Sean Tierny @chartinghockey tweeted a ranking of NHL players value relative to their salary cap hit. ROR ranks 11th among skaters. And yet people still think he's overpaid. The numbers say not only is he a 1C but he's actually top 10. The stink of Buffalo's failures unfairly is projected onto ROR.

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[rent free]

i thought the title said "unwanted" at first and i was like "based off the responses for trade proposals involving him..."

he's definitely up there as one of the most, its very subjective to say who is the most underrated

 

[AustonsNostrils]

i thought the title said "unwanted" at first and i was like "based off the responses for trade proposals involving him..."

he's definitely up there as one of the most, its very subjective to say who is the most underrated

Yes everybody agrees that ROR is a helluva player but when trades are proposed fans of teams who have interest in him shout the ask is much too high because after all ROR is just an elite 2C. Hahaha dumb Habs fans wouldn't even trade the 3rd overall for a player at the position they need desperately who is top 10-15 at that position who is 27 years old, not old.

 

[rent free]

Yes everybody agrees that ROR is a helluva player but when trades are proposed fans of teams who have interest in him shout the ask is much too high because after all ROR is just an elite 2C. Hahaha dumb Habs fans wouldn't even trade the 3rd overall for a player at the position they need desperately who is top 10-15 at that position who is 27 years old, not old.

i literally lol'ed when i read that

 

[Thallis]

He's a great 2 way forward, but he doesn't put up the points like a lot of people want from their top centers, and the his contract disputes have hurt his reputation around the league. He's also been buried on some pretty awful teams, leading to less exposure and lack of trophies. All of this contributes to him being looked over by a lot of people.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Hahaha dumb Habs fans wouldn't even trade the 3rd overall

Not the example I woulda used lol.

A guy on the Canes board took the extrapolated (82 gms) of all players on playoff teans, ordered them by scoring rank by team, then calculated the mean score a guy 1st in scoring, 2nd in scoring, 3rd, etc on across all playoff teams to find the mean total for a guy 1st, 2nd, 3rd on a playoff team.

Based on that, RoR is the 3rd offensive threat on a playoff team as a 60 point center. It shows he's in the very good nhler category that tends to get underrated on these boards.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Yes everybody agrees that ROR is a helluva player but when trades are proposed fans of teams who have interest in him shout the ask is much too high because after all ROR is just an elite 2C. Hahaha dumb Habs fans wouldn't even trade the 3rd overall for a player at the position they need desperately who is top 10-15 at that position who is 27 years old, not old.

Right.

The reason why most Hab fans don’t want to trade the 3rd for ROR is because even after that trade, the team isn’t anywhere near good enough.

Most of us want a rebuild, ROR is just a further extension of mediocrity.

 

[Yatzhee]

Yes, he's highly under rated.

 

[olli]

That list Sportsnet made was a bunch of bs:
The definitive ranking of the NHL's top 23 centres over three seasons - Sportsnet.ca

But regardless, ROR is definitely one of the most underrated players the league.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

I've seen enough to know that he's criminally underrated. He's not far off Bergeron.

 

[Stephen]

If the Sabres had a player of near Patrice Bergeron calibre in Ryan O'Reilly, they wouldn't be nearly as terrible as they have been the past few years. Seems like we've been hearing about how great of a two way player O'Reilly has been since he broke into the league almost a decade now but he's almost never part of even respectable teams. Hard to reconcile that when he's supposed to be such a key ingredient.

 

[Zats Muccarello]

I've seen enough to know that he's criminally underrated. He's not far off Bergeron.

Lol

 

[Dirty Dog]

If the Sabres had a player of near Patrice Bergeron calibre in Ryan O'Reilly, they wouldn't be nearly as terrible as they have been the past few years. Seems like we've been hearing about how great of a two way player O'Reilly has been since he broke into the league almost a decade now but he's almost never part of even respectable teams. Hard to reconcile that when he's supposed to be such a key ingredient.

It’s not hard to reconcile that at all:

There are good players on bad teams. You’re welcome.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Lol

#asktheexperts

 

[JeremyTB]

He is more overrated than underrated. Did you know that he has played 9 seasons and only once which was his rookie year that his plus minus was on the plus side. He's never scored 30 goals and never had 40 assists in a season.

 

[Saekk]

He is more overrated than underrated. Did you know that he has played 9 seasons and only once which was his rookie year that his plus minus was on the plus side. He's never scored 30 goals and never had 40 assists in a season.

What's +/- got to do with being overrated/underrated?

 

[Havok89]

If the Sabres had a player of near Patrice Bergeron calibre in Ryan O'Reilly, they wouldn't be nearly as terrible as they have been the past few years. Seems like we've been hearing about how great of a two way player O'Reilly has been since he broke into the league almost a decade now but he's almost never part of even respectable teams. Hard to reconcile that when he's supposed to be such a key ingredient.

The Oilers sucked with a 100+ point Connor McDavid. Hockey is a team sport, and Buffalo as a team, is not very good.

 

[JeremyTB]

What's +/- got to do with being overrated/underrated?

His biggest asset is suppose to be his selke type play but yet he's always in the minus when the season ends. Someone earlier tried to compare him to Bergeron who in 14 seasons has only once finished as a minus player.

 

[Saekk]

His biggest asset is suppose to be his selke type play but yet he's always in the minus when the season ends. Someone earlier tried to compare him to Bergeron who in 14 seasons has only once finished as a minus player.

So you think +/- is some kind of a meter of measuring how good of a defensive player you are?

 

[olli]

His biggest asset is suppose to be his selke type play but yet he's always in the minus when the season ends. Someone earlier tried to compare him to Bergeron who in 14 seasons has only once finished as a minus player.

Everyone knows +/- is a team stat. Maybe playing on a -81 team against opposing teams top lines makes a difference to his +/-.

 

[olli]

He also played in his draft+1 season as a 2nd round pick. Is there another player that has done that?

 

[I am not exposed]

I wouldn't say he is the most underrated NHL forward, but he is definitely underrated.

 

[Bounces R Way]

You will never be able to define most underrated. The instant they won that title they would lose it.

ROR is a fantastic centreman who I think has been overlooked his entire career. As to why that is I really don't know, his numbers aren't eye popping and neither is his hi-lite reel, but I have a sneaking suspicion it has more to do with that he once had the audacity to demand a contract that reflected what he was worth.

 

[koyvoo]

Arguably

 

[acor]

Right.

The reason why most Hab fans don’t want to trade the 3rd for ROR is because even after that trade, the team isn’t anywhere near good enough.

Most of us want a rebuild, ROR is just a further extension of mediocrity.

Why??? Since lockout Montreal missed playoffs twice, once when Carey Price was injured, other time when Price sucked... So, unless you think Price will never be good again, I think its worth to adress position of need. Unless you are one of those who represent that (stupid IMO) "cup or bust" mentally, and actually believe that its better to be #1OA than SC runner-up. Then good luck with "rebuild"...