Confirmed with Link: [EDM/BUF] McLeod + Tullio for Matt Savoie

[Canovin]

still kinda curious why buffalo did this lol

They need to turn their rebuild into a playoffs team soon otherwise they will becoming a farm team for the league and then slowly entering another rebuild if they don't do these type of trades. That's what happened with Eichel Buffalo, Hall/Eberle Oilers. Detroit, Ottawa, Montreal could all become farm teams for the league if they don't add "veterans" soon

 

[Canovin]

I feel like Buffalo could have gotten Necas with Savoie. A similar player to McLeod but much better

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

still kinda curious why buffalo did this lol

JJ is a slick salesman

 

[guymez]

This trade reminds me in some ways of the 1997 deal for Roman Hamrlik.

The Oilers were struggling to make the playoffs so Sather dealt 2 high profile first round picks (both top 6 selections in the draft) -- Jason Bonsignore and Steve Kelley to Tampa Bay for Roman Hamrlik.

The immediate response by Oiler fans said that the Oilers had fleeced Phil Esposito because it was obvious that neither Bonsignore or Kelly would ever play a substantial number of games in the NHL.

The assumption was right. Hamrlik was rejuvenated in Edmonton and the Oilers turned their season around and made the playoffs in that season and the the 2 subsequent seasons. The 2 picks going the other way were complete busts.

This time a high profile 1st round pick comes the Oiler's way and an established player goes out the door. I think Savoie will be a better player than either Bonsignore or Kelly but of course there is no way to be sure of this until he gets his audition in the NHL.

Regardless---one of the highest profile trades in Oiler history and will be discussed for many years to come.

I am very much in line with the bolded.

 

[CROTT]

I feel like Buffalo could have gotten Necas with Savoie. A similar player to McLeod but much better

Mcleod produced better when in the top six, Necas is playing the whole season with better quality line mates and more PP time (Played a minute per game more on the PP) and doesn't PK, and played three minutes more ES per game. Not really an equal comparison. Mcleod had his best offensive stretches when in the top six, and played a good defensive game, dependable secondary scoring. A lot are selling him as complete garbage over his lack of grit, but if given an opertunity probably could close in on 20 goals easily.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Mcleod produced better when in the top six, Necas is playing the whole season with better quality line mates and more PP time (Played a minute per game more on the PP) and doesn't PK, and played three minutes more ES per game. Not really an equal comparison. Mcleod had his best offensive stretches when in the top six, and played a good defensive game, dependable secondary scoring. A lot are selling him as complete garbage over his lack of grit, but if given an opertunity probably could close in on 20 goals easily.

Necas is a far more skilled player, salary aside I would take Necas over McLeod easily.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Mcleod produced better when in the top six, Necas is playing the whole season with better quality line mates and more PP time (Played a minute per game more on the PP) and doesn't PK, and played three minutes more ES per game. Not really an equal comparison. Mcleod had his best offensive stretches when in the top six, and played a good defensive game, dependable secondary scoring. A lot are selling him as complete garbage over his lack of grit, but if given an opertunity probably could close in on 20 goals easily.

Necas had almost as my points in one season as McLeod has his entire career.

 

[VainGretzky]

They need to turn their rebuild into a playoffs team soon otherwise they will becoming a farm team for the league and then slowly entering another rebuild if they don't do these type of trades. That's what happened with Eichel Buffalo, Hall/Eberle Oilers. Detroit, Ottawa, Montreal could all become farm teams for the league if they don't add "veterans" soon

It's the exact reason why they are still rebuilding is they trade away all their high picks and players they have developed , Eichel, Reinhart ,Middlestadt, Hagel, Zadorv, and Ulmark They have no patience and they are just repeating the same thing again . Arizona was doing they same stupid stuff and was in limbo for years

 

[VainGretzky]

I am very much in line with the bolded.

Savoie has lit up every level he has played at including the AHL . I highly doubt he won't be able to do it at the next level as well

 

[McShogun99]

Even if Mcleod was making league minimum I'd still do this trade. If Mcleod stayed here all season we probably wouldn't have given him his QO and let him go UFA.

 

[nabob]

JJ is a slick salesman

They are trying to sell that McLeod was the key to our playoff PK and is the big, strong, fast, faceoff winning 3C that they’ve needed for a long time.

And JJ could sell ocean front property to a fisherman in Saskatchewan

 

[Canovin]

I don't mind if Savoie makes the team. I trust Knob and the Oilers more than I trust Chauk and the Condors in handling him.

 

[5 14 6 1]

Well...I think that he just recognizes McLeods strengths.
Contrary to what we read on here after the trade McLeod does have some positive elements to his game.

Well sure. But if you read this thread it's a 4th line allergic to contact cardio king for a draft bust with shoulder issues

It's more like a good young 3rd line center with elite skating for a very promising top 6 prospect

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Even if Mcleod was making league minimum I'd still do this trade. If Mcleod stayed here all season we probably wouldn't have given him his QO and let him go UFA.

Arbitration looming has ended with a lot of guys not getting qualified. McLeod is not a guy that you win with in the playoffs until/unless he stops being so soft. Teams like Vancouver and Florida target soft players and expose them physically.

 

[guymez]

Well sure. But if you read this thread it's a 4th line allergic to contact cardio king for a draft bust with shoulder issues

It's more like a good young 3rd line center with elite skating for a very promising top 6 prospect

McLeod is much better suited to playing on the wing at this point in time.
Not unlike RNH in that way.

 

[K1984]

Even if Mcleod was making league minimum I'd still do this trade. If Mcleod stayed here all season we probably wouldn't have given him his QO and let him go UFA.

This is a major part of the deal IMO.

He is the perfect candidate for an arb contract that you instantly regret. He's perfectly capable of scoring 15-20 goals while still being streaky and horrifically underwhelming in every other part of the game. If he scores at that rate, he's going to get north of $3M at least (maybe even closer to $4) on an extension.

It's the Yamamoto conundrum on repeat. Scores 20 goals in 21/22 while still being underwhelming and an uneven/inconsistent contributor. Holland walks into a 2x$3M deal, then he's instantly a buy out/contract dump candidate when he carries that uneven play into the next season. I can almost guarantee you that we will see this type of thing play out from afar with McLeod in Buffalo next year.

It's genius to move him while he still has value, because if he doesn't improve dramatically his value will be essentially zero when his next deal kicks in.

 

[5 14 6 1]

McLeod is much better suited to playing on the wing at this point in time.
Not unlike RNH in that way.

Eh not sure I agree. His strength is transporting puck out of zone, something easier to do as a C. He is weak on the walls, and was actually decent on the dot last year.

 

[ManOfSteelI]

McLeod has some interesting score effects too. There seems to be this weird assertion that he can pick up the slack when McDrai aren't on the ice.

Tied: 1.52 GF/60, 2.02 GA/60
Trailing: 1.01 GF/60, 3.27 GA/60

He was borderline unplayable unless McDrai gave him a lead to work with.

This is a really fascinating observation that I haven't seen brought up before. Thanks for sharing!

 

[CupofOil]

You gotta be kidding with this. Thats the whole thing. McLeod was better this season than several players on this club. People forget too big goals like scoring our first goal to get us going in an otherwise dire Game 4 against Dallas where we were trailing 2-1 in games and down 2-0 in game 4. That goal kickstarted the club.

Again Mcleod had more goals than Janmark, Brown, Perry put together and even saying that while I like Janmark. People elevating Brown is recency effect. He was garbage here 90% of his time here. He did the bare minimum to get extended. 6 measly goals in over 100GP.

In what way did Janmark and Brown vastly overplay Mcleod? In your imagination?

McLeod also scored 3 of our goals in the SC final. Where does this notion he was doing nothing come from?

Just going through the thread so this is a late reply...
I'm one of the few McLeod fans here but he was atrocious in the playoffs, there's just no getting around that. He had 3 goals in the finals, 2 of which were when the game was largely out of reach, but he was also a -3 with several game changing turnovers that led to goals. He played timid and uncharacteristically turned the puck over at inopportune times to the point where he was demoted to the 4th line once Henrique returned. He only got 3rd line minutes in the blowout games when the Oilers let the foot off the gas pedal.

I didn't want the Oilers to trade McLeod because he provides value with some lineup versatility and with his speed, puck transporting ability and defensive awareness but this was a trade that you can't pass up. You clear much needed cap space and get a premium 3 year cheap asset. Still shocking that the Oilers were extract that much value from McLeod.
However, the Oilers did get slower and older in the short term in the bottom 6 without McLeod so they'll have to fill that void but this was too good of a trade to pass up.

 

[Heavy Dee]

I feel like Buffalo could have gotten Necas with Savoie. A similar player to McLeod but much better

Good point. Hard to know what is going on with Carolina now though. They have had a disaster of an off season. Cautionary tale for those who want to hire a 'new era GM'. Tulsky has had a rough start.

 

[guymez]

Eh not sure I agree. His strength is transporting puck out of zone, something easier to do as a C. He is weak on the walls, and was actually decent on the dot last year.

Fair point.

 

[majormajor]

Necas is a far more skilled player, salary aside I would take Necas over McLeod easily.

The Sabres were in on Necas conversations, and the Sabres have been dangling Savoie for a year. Canes and Sabres fans generally agreed that the Canes didn't want Savoie. Obviously everyone thinks Necas is a much more valuable asset than McLeod.

 

[Oilhawks]

The Sabres were in on Necas conversations, and the Sabres have been dangling Savoie for a year. Canes and Sabres fans generally agreed that the Canes didn't want Savoie. Obviously everyone thinks Necas is a much more valuable asset than McLeod.

Interesting that this wasn’t big news before, then.

 

[Fourier]

Arbitration looming has ended with a lot of guys not getting qualified. McLeod is not a guy that you win with in the playoffs until/unless he stops being so soft. Teams like Vancouver and Florida target soft players and expose them physically.

For me this is the key. If McLeod stayed and regressed in a lesser role his value would have dropped and his QO of $2.1M may well have been too much even at that. If he stayed the same or improved statistically, arbitration would have been the elephant in the room. The team may well have been forced to trade him for less or just let him walk.

Even if Savoie busts the loss for the Oilers is probably minimal. As I see it the risk was at most one year of McLeod and possibly a 3rd or worse next off season.

Savoie may not turn out. But the chances that he has an impact withing the next three years are significantly higher than they would be for a generic draft pick which is what I would have expected for McLeod. The only other way this could have gone that may have been better is if he had been part of a package with say a guy like Ceci and picks that returned a legitimate RHD. That could still happen if Savoie has a good year. He could be a compelling piece in a package next off season.

 

[Heavy Dee]

For me this is the key. If McLeod stayed and regressed in a lesser role his value would have dropped and his QO of $2.1M may well have been too much even at that. If he stayed the same or improved statistically, arbitration would have been the elephant in the room. The team may well have been forced to trade him for less or just let him walk.

Even if Savoie busts the loss for the Oilers is probably minimal. As I see it the risk was at most one year of McLeod and possibly a 3rd or worse next off season.

Savoie may not turn out. But the chances that he has an impact withing the next three years are significantly higher than they would be for a generic draft pick which is what I would have expected for McLeod. The only other way this could have gone that may have been better is if he had been part of a package with say a guy like Ceci and picks that returned a legitimate RHD. That could still happen if Savoie has a good year. He could be a compelling piece in a package next off season.

I would say that if Savoie goes to the AHL and lights it up as a 1C, that would be a massive trade chip at the deadline as well. Something like him and a cap dump for a Doughty.