Ryan O’Reilly
Grade: A+
Ryan O’Reilly has been far and away the Blues best player to start the season. He was acquired in the offseason from the Buffalo Sabres for Tage Thompson, Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, and a couple of picks. At least in the short term, the Blues look like clear winners of the trade.
There are so many places I could start praising O’Reilly for excelling in. He plays a tremendous 200-foot game of hockey, and he is one of the best on the faceoff, his ability to make plays is unparalleled on the Blues, and oh, by the way, he leads the team in points.
We’ll start with his defensive ability. We heard from experts from around the league that he plays a 200-foot game. Before his arrival, Alexander Steen was arguably the Blues best in this department. No disrespect to Steen, but O’Reilly’s ability to control the puck in both ends of the ice was noticeable on his first shift as a Blue.
O’Reilly is seemingly on the ice for every faceoff that is in the Blues’ zone. Last season, he led the entire NHL in faceoff wins with 1273 at even strength. It is an aspect of the game that the casual fan may not notice, but starting with the puck takes pressure off of the entire unit on the ice.
His 14 points on the season lead the Blues, he has found chemistry on the second line with David Perron and Zach Sanford on the second line, and he has given the Blues two true top lines.
The decision of giving him the only “A+” was an easy one, and I hope I get to provide him with many many more for the rest of the season.