Quote:
Originally Posted by flameswin
Uhh, yeah actually it does have something to do with Buffalo. They signed him. I get your point, that a series of events led to him being "worth" what he is today, but in the context of this discussion, yes Buffalo has something to do with Buffalo having a very high priced, second line centre.
Buffalo had two choices;
1. Sign the player to what he eventually agreed to
2. Don't sign the player, continue on a very awkward/slimey/but now functioning rebuild
They chose to fast track their rebuild with a known me first/get all the money possible by any means player who will likely stunt their growth from playoff team to Stanley cup contender. This is all on Buffalo, there's no reason to look back on other teams that drove his price up and absolve Buffalo of their part in this.
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Yes I get what your saying but if he didn't get it from Buffalo he would have got it from someone else. I don't see this as say a UFA situation where Buffalo overpaid to out bid other teams. This was the going rate for O'Reilly because he was overpaid by Feaster. Realistically if O'Reilly can consistently put up 60-70+ points per year the contract isn't that bad. They traded quantity for quality and I'm usually a fan of that. It will be difficult for them to attract free agents so sometimes you gotta choose other avenues to improve your team. Their top 6 looks really good now though so maybe it pays off in the end.