St. Louis Blues Ryan O’Reilly: Get To Know Your Newest Blue
The St. Louis Blues pulled off their second shocker of a trade in two years. They added depth of character and production with the addition of Ryan O’Reilly.
The St. Louis Blues have developed a flair for the dramatic over the last two summers. One year after fleecing the Philadelphia Flyers, Doug Armstrong pulled off another shocking trade. He was not the clear victor, but the Blues added Ryan O’Reilly and dropped two of their weightier contracts in the process, while keeping the blue-chip prospects.
As fans, we have focused mainly on what was lost and what was kept. Shockingly, there were quite a few vocal fans that were upset about what was given up.
The most vocal were upset over the loss of Vladimir Sobotka. That is shocking because he was not the same player as prior to his stint in the KHL. Also, there were a lot of people upset he even returned to the Blues in the first place. For it to swing the other way is surprising.
It was mainly the ladies upset about the loss of Patrik Berglund. Not to pigeon hole anyone, but that generally has more to do with his looks than his skill.
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Regardless of all that, if there are those that cannot see the Blues won this trade – unless Tage Thompson becomes a true phenom – then there is no changing their minds. The Blues got a quality player, a quality person and one that will add to a somewhat depleted leadership group.
O’Reilly’s career began with the Colorado Avalanche. Admittedly, his first two seasons were less than stellar.
As an 18 and 19 year old, O’Reilly deferred far too much. It was fine in his rookie season, but the following year the Avalanche returned to mediocrity and needed a player of his caliber to step up. He started with two seasons of 26 points. That would not last for long.
O’Reilly’s third season would show what he would become. In 2011-12, he scored 55 points. That year began a streak of seasons scoring 55 points or more, broken only by an injury during a work-stoppage shortened season.
Colorado traded O’Reilly to Buffalo in the summer of 2015, in an effort to create cap space for some of their other young players. O’Reilly shrugged off the shun and still managed to produce for one of the lower teams in the league.
He had 21 goals and 60 points in his first season with the Sabres. He had 20 and 24 goals the following seasons with 55 and 61 points respectively.
Some might question his leadership abilities, but a player cannot do much about the talent around him. Even the best can only lift others up so much.
A better indication is that Buffalo almost immediately gave him an alternate captain position upon his arrival. Similarly, Team Canada has put him in leadership spots, also making him an alternate or assistant in the 2018 World Championships.
He helped Team Canada win two gold medals and a silver during his World Championship tournaments. He was part of the Canadian junior team that won gold at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Now, he wants his international success to translate to the NHL.
Because of that, O’Reilly seemed generally excited about coming to St. Louis in a phone conversation with Doug Armstrong.
Call it overreaction if you will, but O’Reilly saying “I won’t let you down” means quite a bit to me. There are a hundred different ways to end a conversation, but that speaks volumes. To me that says O’Reilly is not going to come in and expect things. He is going to come in, work, help his teammates and hopefully win.
It’s a small thing, but can have a big effect from the mental standpoint.
We can talk all day about whether any player is worth five pieces going the other way. The bottom line, now that the deal is done, is that the Blues got a quality player.
O’Reilly can play the middle and just set the NHL record for faceoffs won. He can also switch to the wing, should Robert Thomas grab his own brass ring and claim a spot in the center.
While the Blues might not be Stanley Cup contenders for many pundits, O’Reilly has to feel good about coming to a winning franchise. After languishing in the dark of the basement, he is coming to a team that had made the playoffs six seasons in a row prior to 2018. For a player that wants to win, that’s a big boost.
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As the detractors have pointed out, O’Reilly is not the second coming of Gretzky. He is a solid second line center that can play with the top line if needed. He is a gritty player that can score and, in my opinion, is a big upgrade from what the Blues got from Paul Stastny.
Now, it’s all about training and getting ready for 2018-19. We should all be excited about this new addition.