Confirmed Trade: [BUF/EDM] Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio for Matt Savoie

[Buffdog]

Savoie is from St Albert

Is there a chance that he requested a trade to be closer to home for personal reasons (family illness, etc) and Buffalo did him a solid?

 

[ManofSteel55]

Let's not forget that Edmonton traded their next 1st round draft pick. This trade, if nothing else, gives them a high value prospect they can dangle for help at the deadline. The Oilers are in "win-now" mode. Savoie could be a good Oiler in a fee years. Or he could be trade bait to get something we need in February.

 

[Samsonite23]

Kinda like this trade for both teams.

I can see why the majority of posters see a high skilled prospect as a steal for a 3rd line player, but Savoie is a smaller player and is likely ends up a winger in the NHL, greatly reducing his overall value. He also comes with some serious concerns that can't be ignored. He's a fantastic prospect, but has already had a knee injury, a shoulder injury, an elbow injury, and has had concussions and is still really young. He plays a fearless style and will drive the net hard and that is probably going to be a big problem for his durability given his size in the pros.

If he stays healthy throughout his career, this could be an absolute steal for Edmonton, but Buffalo got value that they desperately needed and moved a smaller, "redundant to their system", injury prone winger while he has decent value.

Sums it up pretty nicely.

In before all of Edmonton completely ignores any mention of concern about Savoie and goes right to “McLeod sux”.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Even hockey pundits are saying McLeod is a 3rd liner. Whether he's any good or not, I'll defer to Edmonton fans, but this isn't about a who won the trade debate for Buffalo. It's about need for the Sabres. Their bottom 6 has been non existent for years, this trade, when taken in to context of their moves this off season, fits the change occurring in the Sabres mngt philosophy of accumulating high draft talent. They know they have a good amount of top 6 potential in their pipeline, as you pointed out, losing for years affords that.
But it is the need to climb in to playoff spot contention that is driving them now, and once again, Savoie won't be missed in the Sabres pipeline.
For petes sake, you make it sound as though Savoie is the 2nd coming of Jagr. Give it a rest.

McLeod has third line potential, but he is not a third liner as of now, that is why the Oilers acquired other bottom 6 forwards and they all out performed him. Unless you have really good bottom 6 forwards for him to play with, he won't be very effective. Defensively he is decent although he is horrendous at clearing the puck out of the defensive zone, gets intercepted constantly. He does skate very well and gives good effort but he's not a strong and reliable bottom 6 forward. He has long stretches where not much gets done. McLeod is a 4th line level player as of today. Trading a 9th overall pick for a 4th liner is horrendous. Savoie is only 20 years old. If the best I could get for him was Ryan McLeod I would just leave Savoie in the minors to develop. You can find a bottom 6 forward as good or better then McLeod in free agency every season.

 

[DougBodger]

Adams painted himself into a corner when he moved Mitts. He knew he would have to acquire a 3C and this was his only chance.

With it happening a few days after UFA started, I've got to imagine he had a few plans before this that did not happen, including UFAs and missed trades.

 

[PanniniClaus]

Kevyn... Kevyn... put down the phone and computer and check yourself into a local hospital.. for the good of all involved.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Yall need to chill out.

Could have been saying the same about Peyton Krebs when he was traded.

No one knows this prospect better than Buffalo. Consider that.

There are lots of players drafted high that don't even turn out to be a Ryan McLeod.

You could say that nobody knew Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart, and Evan Rodrigues better than Buffalo.

I realize that it's not necessarily the same people in charge, but the point is: just because a player or prospect is a member of an organization doesn't mean that the organization can't make a mistake in valuation.

Maybe there's a great reason why this move is really good for BUF, but "Hey they know the player better than anyone" isn't that reason, otherwise you could use that on every single bad trade in the history of sports.

 

[Faceboner]

At first didn't like the trade came around to it still think it's an overpay but not horrible would have preferred our first and a collection of other pieces but still not horrible I can come around to a fast physical defensive center with good age still and inexpensive makes us much better overall at the moment wouldn't mind seeing a trade bringing in another winger but think we are set for the season but now Krebs is displaced currently

 

[pigpen65]

I give up

 

[DKH]

You've been on this site for 22 years and you still Troll? Lol I hope I will have that kind of presence on HF boards down the road haha

26 because like in End Game there was a blip and everything was lost

I stumbled across here looking up Nick Boynton in 1998 or so

Those days on the Bruins board we might have 10 total posts

Kids were in playpen next to me early days now they are all graduated and going strong

Thank you HF for way more ups then downs and friends I’ve met through here I’ve been hanging around with and vacation in multiple countries

trolling is just a small part lol

 

[Yatzhee]

I guess it really depends what people are expecting out of McLeod. If you're expecting a soft, defensively responsible player with elite speed and very limited offence then you'll probably be happy with this pick up. If perimeter play and poor finishing ability gets your blood boiling then you're going to hate this player. I still think McLeod is better suited for the wing because he refuses to go to the tough areas or battle physically for pucks, but he is smart on the defensive side of things in terms of positioning, and he uses a good active stick along with his speed on the back check. He's also a very good penalty killer.

I have to imagine that we have mostly seen McLeod's peak offensively because a lot of his production even this year came when he was playing wing on Leon Draisaitl's line. Unless he completely overhauls his perimeter play, which is something coaches have been trying to make him do his entire life without even the slightest glimpse of him doing it, I can't exactly see how his offensive game grows any further.

It's not what any of us are expecting from McLeod. It's about what Ruff and Adams are expecting out of him. Buffalo has revamped their bottom 6 near completely so far. Those changes will be graded this season. Losing Savoie doesn't even move the meter for me as a Sabres fan. Neither does acquiring McLeod. 13 seasons of no playoffs watching all star players sh it the bed here for whatever reason will do that to a fan base.
So others can say overpay, your team lost the trade, and so on......none of us will really know until we see the trade pieces deployed for use.

 

[BIeucheeseWithWings]

At first didn't like the trade came around to it still think it's an overpay but not horrible would have preferred our first and a collection of other pieces but still not horrible I can come around to a fast physical defensive center with good age still and inexpensive makes us much better overall at the moment wouldn't mind seeing a trade bringing in another winger but think we are set for the season but now Krebs is displaced currently

Who wants to tell him?

 

[Cup or Bust]

At first didn't like the trade came around to it still think it's an overpay but not horrible would have preferred our first and a collection of other pieces but still not horrible I can come around to a fast physical defensive center with good age still and inexpensive makes us much better overall at the moment wouldn't mind seeing a trade bringing in another winger but think we are set for the season but now Krebs is displaced currently

McLeod is not physical at all. That is one of his biggest weaknesses he never goes to hard areas. he just skates around the perimeter and almost never goes to the net.

 

[Yatzhee]

I know what Buffalo needs. But just giving away a top 9 pick from only a few years ago with massive top 6 potential for a bottom 6 player who has struggled mightily at center and putting your hopes on that because that’s what Buffalo needs is suicidal. If McLeod fetched say a second rounder, fine, but a top 9 draft player? Good god, man. Lol.

I trust Ruff's input to Adams over your input to me.

 

[dasaybz]

This is all you could get for Savoie? What the hell man. It really hurts being a Sabres fan.

 

[Skolman]

At first didn't like the trade came around to it still think it's an overpay but not horrible would have preferred our first and a collection of other pieces but still not horrible I can come around to a fast physical defensive center with good age still and inexpensive makes us much better overall at the moment wouldn't mind seeing a trade bringing in another winger but think we are set for the season but now Krebs is displaced currently

Uh, what?

McLeod is one of the softest players in the league, he's not physical at all

 

[Yatzhee]

McLeod has third line potential, but he is not a third liner as of now, that is why the Oilers acquired other bottom 6 forwards and they all out performed him. Unless you have really good bottom 6 forwards for him to play with, he won't be very effective. Defensively he is decent although he is horrendous at clearing the puck out of the defensive zone, gets intercepted constantly. He does skate very well and gives good effort but he's not a strong and reliable bottom 6 forward. He has long stretches where not much gets done. McLeod is a 4th line level player as of today. Trading a 9th overall pick for a 4th liner is horrendous. Savoie is only 20 years old. If the best I could get for him was Ryan McLeod I would just leave Savoie in the minors to develop. You can find a bottom 6 forward as good or better then McLeod in free agency every season.

Your not familiar with the Sabres situation, and it shows.

 

[Akrapovince]

You could say that nobody knew Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart, and Evan Rodrigues better than Buffalo.

I realize that it's not necessarily the same people in charge, but the point is: just because a player or prospect is a member of an organization doesn't mean that the organization can't make a mistake in valuation.

Maybe there's a great reason why this move is really good for BUF, but "Hey they know the player better than anyone" isn't that reason, otherwise you could use that on every single bad trade in the history of sports.

Theoretically, the same brass put in place an amateur scouting team that “knew” enough about a player to select them with a top ten pick will be the same front office that “knows” enough about a player to move on from them.

If they couldn’t get it right the first time…

 

[Cup or Bust]

Your not familiar with the Sabres situation, and it shows.

I know Ryan McLeod though very well. You obviously do not at all.

 

[Beerz]

McLeod was one of the most ineffective players the Oilers had, that is why they got rid of him.

Only because you can't get rid of Darnell Nurse

 

[nabob]

Maybe nervousness is the wrong word, but it seemed to me he was cracking under pressure and needed a reset, which is exactly what Knob gave him.

Experienced or not, that can happen to players. Still happens to Nurse all the time lol.

Yes though, not engaging physically is probably who he is at this point. I have some sympathy for him in some regard though, Knob never put an emphasis on that kind of physicality.

Prone to making bad decisions would be the words.

I’m not talking about throwing any kind of big hits, but just simple things like pushing a player to the outside and tying them up. Knob 100% put an emphasis on those kind of plays and it’s those plays where Clouder struggled badly in the playoffs. It’s the rep he’s had since before he was drafted.

 

[Chainshot]

this doesn't make much sense unless there was a problem with Savoie that none of us know about.

There was a problem with the Sabres having too many smallish offensive prospect wingers and some needs on their roster.

 

[Chainshot]

McLeod was one of the most ineffective players the Oilers had, that is why they got rid of him.

Still drawing flies with this bullshit.

 

[Captain Controversy]

26 because like in End Game there was a blip and everything was lost

I stumbled across here looking up Nick Boynton in 1998 or so

Those days on the Bruins board we might have 10 total posts

Kids were in playpen next to me early days now they are all graduated and going strong

Thank you HF for way more ups then downs and friends I’ve met through here I’ve been hanging around with and vacation in multiple countries

trolling is just a small part lol

I salute you

 

[Beerz]

You could say that nobody knew Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart, and Evan Rodrigues better than Buffalo.

I realize that it's not necessarily the same people in charge, but the point is: just because a player or prospect is a member of an organization doesn't mean that the organization can't make a mistake in valuation.

Maybe there's a great reason why this move is really good for BUF, but "Hey they know the player better than anyone" isn't that reason, otherwise you could use that on every single bad trade in the history of sports.

You think Sabres traded Reinhart and Montour because they didn't think they were good players? Lol