Your perspective on the O'Reilly trade is questionable to me. Some say Buffalo took two cap dumps, Thompson ( I admit, I don't know a whole lot about this kid), whats going to be a late 1st and 2nd. Maybe that's worth two 1st? But, also he had 5 more years on his deal which is huge.
Not saying it couldn't happen. GM's make hearky jerky moves all the time. I just wouldn't expect it. I mean, I thought Kane would get and automatic late 1st and he didn't even bring that. But then another teams way overpays overpays for a meh forward. You never know.
Sobotka isn’t really a cap dump. He may not be a top 6 player, but he’s a good middle 6 guy. Berglund May be a cap dump idk too much about him.
Thompson has potential. He’s a big PF C with a scorers touch. He’s still a project even at the NHL level. He’ll take time to develop and could slot in well as a Bjustad type figure.
Although people on here value draft picks kinda weirdly... some overvalue heavily while some think they have 0 value, GMs are starting to stockpile. Many won’t move 1sts now unless it’s a sure thing (yes I know the Nash, Tatar, McDonagh, and so on).
Schenn returned 2 1sts and that could turn out to really bite them considering Frost and Farabee look to be great players for the future. Same with the O’Rilley case if he underperforms. That’s probably why they didn’t give up 2 1st rd picks.
I think if you break the STL-BUF trade down... Thompson and the 2nd equal a first and that 2nd is a pretty big add for that. Thompson could be a good player. Just hve to wait and see.