[Signing] Sabres extend Ryan O'Reilly long term (7 years, 52.5 million)

[Fire]

I have a feeling the Sabres are going to regret this contract in a couple of years. They better hope he goes back to his 2013-14 form. If he plateaus at this 2014-15 form the Sabres are in big trouble.

[GreenLantern]

I think the Avs matching the Flames offer sheet on ROR was one of the best moves the franchise has never made.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by transplant99

He may not be elite but he is a much better player than Langkow, at least offensively.

Over his last 3 seasons he is a 60 pt guy on a team stacked with good offensive players where he had to fight for icetime. That pt. total would put him top 25 in the NHL among C's.

Add him to a club that has Eichel as its main C in a couple years and he will be among the best 2nd line C's in the NHL as he can play PP and PK on top of his regular duties.

That doesn't mean he is worth 7 million per, but it does suggest he should be very well compensated as he is a very good player....and it appears he will be cashing in.

He's had more than 60 points once in his career. Langkow did it 3 times. They are very similar guys, except O'Reilly is much better at winning faceoffs.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by transplant99

He may not be elite but he is a much better player than Langkow, at least offensively.

Over his last 3 seasons he is a 60 pt guy on a team stacked with good offensive players where he had to fight for icetime. That pt. total would put him top 25 in the NHL among C's.

Add him to a club that has Eichel as its main C in a couple years and he will be among the best 2nd line C's in the NHL as he can play PP and PK on top of his regular duties.

That doesn't mean he is worth 7 million per, but it does suggest he should be very well compensated as he is a very good player....and it appears he will be cashing in.

Only scored over 20 goals once in his career despite playing with some talented players. Langkow eclipsed 30 goals twice and was a perennial 20 goal guy despite getting mostly 2nd line minutes and I think you are either overrating ROR or underrating Langkow.

[sureLoss]

A lot of the ROR hype came from breaking into the league right after being drafted in the 2nd round.

Still a good player (likely a great 2nd line center), but not sure he is as good as some are making him out to be.

[Benched]

I can't explain why, but I just don't like him...

[Red]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

He's had more than 60 points once in his career. Langkow did it 3 times. They are very similar guys, except O'Reilly is much better at winning faceoffs.

Langs only got those points playing with Iginla and that was when he was much older. ROR is still very young and hit 50+ points 3 times in his first 5 seasons. Langs never even reached 30 points at that age.

ROR is a great player, much better than Langkow.

[dammage79]

Always thought O'Reilly was an upper tier 2nd line center. Don't think his value is anything ore than 6 million a year but I get why a team like Buffalo could raise his AAV to 7-7.5 long term too. Perhaps the perfect mentor for Jack Eichel. One thing you cannot take away from O'Reilly is that he plays the game the right way. All the time. Elite positionally, excellent on the faceoffs, excellent defensively.

[Husky]

RoR is a similar centre to Bergeron. Great defensively and gritty. Decent offensively but not elite.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

He's had more than 60 points once in his career. Langkow did it 3 times. They are very similar guys, except O'Reilly is much better at winning faceoffs.

Over his last 3 seasons...he is scoring at a 60 pt per season pace...that's all I said and its indisputable...in fact over the last 4 seasons its over 60 pts IIRC. That places him among the top 25 among C's in the NHL. His defense is adequate and he can play with a little edge and in all situations.

The guy is what...24 years old? He is going to be a great player for many more years in the league and the Sabres did very well to land him.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

While I agree he's going to get a bit overpaid here, it won't hurt us. We have $17 million in cap space right now and no other big contracts that need to be renewed.

And when Eichel is making 10+ a season in just three years? You'll have 17+ mill locked up into your top two centres and one of them isn't in the Crosby/Malkin class.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Only scored over 20 goals once in his career despite playing with some talented players. Langkow eclipsed 30 goals twice and was a perennial 20 goal guy despite getting mostly 2nd line minutes and I think you are either overrating ROR or underrating Langkow.

So what? He is also only 24 years old. He contributes in so many other ways. I loved Langkow....exactly the kind of guy every team needs to win.

I believe many here have an imbalanced view of RoR simply because of the near disaster he may have become if the Avs didn't match that offer sheet.

[Red]

Originally Posted by transplant99

So what? He is also only 24 years old. He contributes in so many other ways. I loved Langkow....exactly the kind of guy every team needs to win.

I believe many here have an imbalanced view of RoR simply because of the near disaster he may have become if the Avs didn't match that offer sheet.

I think that Langkow gets a bit overrated because of his time with Iginla when he was at the top of his game.
Fact is that Langkow by the age of 24 had about half the goals/points that ROR got. And ROR has another 10+ years to pad that.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

And when Eichel is making 10+ a season in just three years? You'll have 17+ mill locked up into your top two centres and one of them isn't in the Crosby/Malkin class.

well if Eichel does get 10+ a season he would have to be better than Crosby and Malkin over the next 3 years... as well that would have him playing much better than Monahan.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

And when Eichel is making 10+ a season in just three years? You'll have 17+ mill locked up into your top two centres and one of them isn't in the Crosby/Malkin class.

That becomes a problem in 4 years, when who knows what Eichel's contract will be actually worth, the salary cap will be quite a bit higher, and there will likely a lot worse players than O'Reilly making 7 million. We also have very few players signed to long term contracts -- we have exactly three players signed on for the 2018-19 season (when Eichel and Reinhart come off their ELC's) so far. The money isn't a huge issue.

[Jason14h]

People really need to get over the "What will you do in X years, when X players need to be resigned" if its over 1 year out.

The point of hockey is the win games. Sure looking 1 season out is fine, but the Sabres should be planning in 3 years for a 10 million cap hit and have that handcuff their contract signings today..... Seriously....

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by transplant99

He may not be elite but he is a much better player than Langkow, at least offensively.

Over his last 3 seasons he is a 60 pt guy on a team stacked with good offensive players where he had to fight for icetime. That pt. total would put him top 25 in the NHL among C's.

Add him to a club that has Eichel as its main C in a couple years and he will be among the best 2nd line C's in the NHL as he can play PP and PK on top of his regular duties.

That doesn't mean he is worth 7 million per, but it does suggest he should be very well compensated as he is a very good player....and it appears he will be cashing in.

So how many of his points were generated by the skill plays of landeskog / Duschene / MacKinnon / Statsny/ Iginla / Tanguay and watching them score a skill goal or tapping in a goal they created.

Last year he got 12 of his 55 pts on the pp the year before 22 out of his 64 points on the PP. It would seem that the Avs were boosting his stats. Also they would be playing 4 forward on the pp as they have only 1 or 2 D-men with any offensive skills.

Hudler's 54 pts to lead the Flames in 2013-14 is far more impressive than any point total O'Rielly has put up.


You are one odd duck when it comes to stats and breakdowns of them.

[bubbsy]

he's a #2 Center, and/or a top6 winger, who can put up decent 2nd line points.

If the most elite center/winger in the league now cost $10 million (toews/kane), what do top line players get... $7-10 million? So then what do 2nd line players get ($5-7 mill)??

[automaton 3]

Paying elite money to a good 2nd line C seems like a pretty bad idea, but the Sabres have cap room to spare, for now.

[DJones]

Seems like this is taking a long time to get more info