St. Louis Blues Trade For Ryan O'Reilly, Pulling Late Shocker

The St. Louis Blues made a big trade late in the day when most fans had given up on things. They went from one center to more than they know what to do with.

The St. Louis Blues have made a habit of leaving things until late. They acquired Brayden Schenn in the 2017 NHL Draft, when fans had given up on the day. The same thing happened on the first day of free agency in 2018.

Basically, all the fans and pundits were settling in, discussing the Blues free agent signings and figuring what the lineup could look like. I had even written an article how the team was looking more toward the future by making prudent signings and avoiding the big trade.

No sooner than I hit submit on that article than our news feeds start coming alive with the trade. The Blues acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, a 2019 first-round pick and a 2020 second-round pick.

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The price is still a bit steep, but the Blues checked all the buttons, just as they did in the Schenn trade a year prior. The Blues dropped some contracts that were weighing them down, created space for their prospects and picked up the big name they were after.

The only downside of the trade was losing out on Tage Thompson. He had a rare combination of size and speed, but who knows how he would have panned out. It stinks to lose out on his potential so early, but out of any of the prospects, Thompson’s name was the most palatable in a deal.

Now, the question becomes who goes where. Does O’Reilly center the top line? Does he center the second line? Will he even remain a center?

Army says getting ROR allows the Blues to play Thomas down the lineup if they need to early in the season. But he could also see Thomas centering a line with ROR on the left and Tarasenko on the right. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) July 2, 2018

On the surface, this takes away space from Robert Thomas. In theory, the Blues have Schenn, O’Reilly and Tyler Bozak as their top three centers. It seems a waste to have Thomas playing on a fourth line.

So, does someone get moved to the wing? Clearly, Armstrong is willing to have O’Reilly play the wing later in the season, but how do they start? These are incredibly interesting questions and ones none of us thought we would be having.

Anyone who says they had not given up on this trade, or any trade, is likely lying. The most positive of us thought O’Reilly might still be available during the season or at the deadline. Nobody thought this deal was still alive for the first day of free agency.

Doug Armstrong deserves a boatload of credit. He went from having one true center to four centers capable of going up the middle on your second line. He managed to drop some albatross contracts for the second year in a row too.

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Armstrong has not been a perfect GM and has left certain deals on the table, whether of his making or others. It is hard to ignore the facts though with his two latest big deals.

The Blues have now added some scoring help. O’Reilly has averaged near 60 points for five seasons in a row.

Now, it is up to the players to get this done. They have the help up the middle and the team did not give up their blue-chip prospects in the process. Blame for any lack of success now falls on the players or the coach. Let’s hope we do not have to have that discussion next summer.

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