G Matt O'Connor (2010 undrafted; 2015 signed, OTT)

[Brodeur]

Elliotte Friedman on HNIC mentioned that Edmonton is one of a few teams who are keeping in touch with Boston University goalie Matt O'Connor.

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[Oil For The Boys]

Elliotte Friedman on HNIC mentioned that Edmonton is one of a few teams who are keeping in touch with Boston University goalie Matt O'Connor.

Bruce Garrioch also mentioned that the Senators are in consideration.

 

[Brodeur]

G Matt O'Connor - Boston University, NCAA (2010 undrafted)

As per Dreger: http://www.tsn.ca/dreger-report-teams-lining-up-for-o-connor-1.215858

Fresh off winning the Beanpot tournament on Monday, Boston University goaltender Matt O'Connor has become a prime target for several NHL teams.

Sources tell TSN that as of Monday, 14 NHL clubs have expressed interest in signing the 23-year-old college free agent and as many as five teams are promising NHL playing time this season if O'Connor chooses to sign at the end of his college season.

Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary are all believed to be keenly interested in signing the the undrafted 6'5" goalie, while Buffalo and Phoenix are also considered to be contenders on the list of 14 as well.

 

[THall4]

As per Dreger: http://www.tsn.ca/dreger-report-teams-lining-up-for-o-connor-1.215858

Reports are hes looking for an opportunity to play in the NHL right away...only 2 teams Dreger listed i can think of that can offer that right away are Buffalo and Edmonton

Perhaps Toronto, unless they hang onto Bernier and Reimer...but that is a hot mess to go along with the garbage media...hometown or not...he'd be smart to avoid that place.


He should just sign in EDM and then all be good

 

[SI90]

Buffalo make the most sense to me.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Friedman in his 30 thoughts today mentioned San Jose.

 

[threeVo]

Sabres are down a goalie now and id be shocked if we didnt sign him and bring him right into the NHL to finish off the year. He essentially replaces Hackett in our system since he would become a UFA if he doesnt play 7 more games

 

[Paxon]

Sabres are down a goalie now and id be shocked if we didnt sign him and bring him right into the NHL to finish off the year. He essentially replaces Hackett in our system since he would become a UFA if he doesnt play 7 more games

It's enticing but there's competition. He only has to dress for games to activate his ELC. We could actually play him which is a benefit some of the teams probably wouldn't offer, but there are other things I imagine he'd be considering.

 

[threeVo]

It's enticing but there's competition. He only has to dress for games to activate his ELC. We could actually play him which is a benefit some of the teams probably wouldn't offer, but there are other things I imagine he'd be considering.

Understandable but if we do sign him I see us moving forward with:

NHL:
UFA
Lindback

AHL:
O'Connor
Kasdorf

ECHL:
Ullmark
Makarov or Lieuwen

I dont see us keeping both Lieuwen and Makarov, and we desperately need to add some prospects to the development pipeline. I dont value goalies much but this is bad lol

 

[Knies iT]

Reports are hes looking for an opportunity to play in the NHL right away...only 2 teams Dreger listed i can think of that can offer that right away are Buffalo and Edmonton

Perhaps Toronto, unless they hang onto Bernier and Reimer...but that is a hot mess to go along with the garbage media...hometown or not...he'd be smart to avoid that place.


He should just sign in EDM and then all be good

Edmonton is the epitome of a hot mess.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

Signing Matt might save Doug Wilson's job. He will have no competition and will be in San Jose. Doug should go all out for this one.

 

[Paxon]

Understandable but if we do sign him I see us moving forward with:

NHL:
UFA
Lindback

AHL:
O'Connor
Kasdorf

ECHL:
Ullmark
Makarov or Lieuwen

I dont see us keeping both Lieuwen and Makarov, and we desperately need to add some prospects to the development pipeline. I dont value goalies much but this is bad lol

We have two strong goalie prospects: Ullmark and Petersen. Ullmark was the SHL goalie of the year as a rookie last season. He had a rough start on a garbage team this year but has rebounded fully in the second half. Petersen as a freshman took over the starting job at Notre Dame as the season went on and has been playing insane of late. Hockey East goalie of the month in February. He just lost a 5 OT game after setting the NCAA record for saves in a game in the longest NCAA game in history.

We could certainly use another prospect but it'd be even more preferable if we added a young back-up ready to try his hand at starting.

 

[XX]

Arizona has serious interest, and can burn a year off his ELC like he wants. Great goalie coach. Opportunity is there.

Said he likes Andrew Ference in FW so maybe Edmonton is a wildcard.

 

[613Leafer]

Leafs dont have an NHL spot for him, but the Marlies are one of the best situated AHL teams in the league. Right down the road from the Leafs, with access to the same practice facilities. Can be called up easily on a moments notice, and you get to live in a world class city whereas many AHL teams are in pretty small cities.

Plus if Reimer is traded in the offseason, we actually would have space for him on the NHL squad. Anyways, im always interested in adding free assets, particularly with a chance to beef up the goalie situation.

 

[dire wolf]

The question is, how good is he really? It's been notoriously difficult to project NCAA goalies. I remember thinking David LeNeveu from Cornell was going to be a stud. Take a look at his gaudy numbers from his 2 college seasons:

Year W-L-T SO GAA SVP
2001-02 11-2-1 2 1.50 0.936
2002-03 28-3-1 9 1.20 0.940


How did it turn out? 22 career NHL games

 

[613Leafer]

The question is, how good is he really? It's been notoriously difficult to project NCAA goalies. I remember thinking David LeNeveu from Cornell was going to be a stud. Take a look at his gaudy numbers from his 2 college seasons:

Year W-L-T SO GAA SVP
2001-02 11-2-1 2 1.50 0.936
2002-03 28-3-1 9 1.20 0.940


How did it turn out? 22 career NHL games

Pretty much I see it as a free asset with potential. For every 10 signings like this, you might only get one good NHL starter,and a couple NHL backups. But you give up nothing (except a contract slot), and in most cases you get a guy who can at least play well at the AHL level and help stabilize your development team if they had previously received poor goaltending.

Leafs for example signed Gustavsson, Owuya, Rynnas, and Scrivens out of Europe and the NCAA. Two became NHLers, and none became legitimate NHL starters.

But looking around the league, Hiller, Thomas (now retired), Niemi, Bobrovsky, etc. Signing undrafted Euro goalies seems to pay off better than NCAA ones. But there's still no downside to the move. Belfour, Cujo, and Roloson were all undrafted NCAA signing.

 

[dire wolf]

Pretty much I see it as a free asset with potential. For every 10 signings like this, you might only get one good NHL starter,and a couple NHL backups. But you give up nothing (except a contract slot), and in most cases you get a guy who can at least play well at the AHL level and help stabilize your development team if they had previously received poor goaltending.

Leafs for example signed Gustavsson, Owuya, Rynnas, and Scrivens out of Europe and the NCAA. Two became NHLers, and none became legitimate NHL starters.

But looking around the league, Hiller, Thomas (now retired), Niemi, Bobrovsky, etc. Signing undrafted Euro goalies seems to pay off better than NCAA ones. But there's still no downside to the move. Belfour, Cujo, and Roloson were all undrafted NCAA signing.

I agree. I'm just tempering expectations. There seems to be a small fury over signing this guy. I hope he turns out great

 

[ZeroPT*]

When Dreger (I think it was him) mentioned that a team asked O'Connor's agent if they had a better chance to sign him should they move a goalie it gave me a pretty good idea that Buffalo really want him.

I really hope we can sign him. It's a free asset.

 

[Johnny GODreau]

Pretty much I see it as a free asset with potential. For every 10 signings like this, you might only get one good NHL starter,and a couple NHL backups. But you give up nothing (except a contract slot), and in most cases you get a guy who can at least play well at the AHL level and help stabilize your development team if they had previously received poor goaltending.

Leafs for example signed Gustavsson, Owuya, Rynnas, and Scrivens out of Europe and the NCAA. Two became NHLers, and none became legitimate NHL starters.

But looking around the league, Hiller, Thomas (now retired) ,Niemi, Bobrovsky, etc. Signing undrafted Euro goalies seems to pay off better than NCAA ones. But there's still no downside to the move. Belfour, Cujo, and Roloson were all undrafted NCAA signing.

Tim? He was drafted by the Nordiques.

 

[Charlie Conway]

The question is, how good is he really? It's been notoriously difficult to project NCAA goalies. I remember thinking David LeNeveu from Cornell was going to be a stud. Take a look at his gaudy numbers from his 2 college seasons:

Year W-L-T SO GAA SVP
2001-02 11-2-1 2 1.50 0.936
2002-03 28-3-1 9 1.20 0.940


How did it turn out? 22 career NHL games

And look at Talbot...undrafted goaltender from the university of Alabama. Alabama.

Less than impressive numbers, aside from his third year.

Year GP GAA SVP
2007-08 13 4.63 0.860
2008-09 24 2.95 0.907
2009-10 33 2.61 0.925

A lot of it will have to do with looking at the team in front of him as well as relying on scouts. Rangers scouts saw something good in Cam, and he's been pretty good so far. Still work to do, for sure, but he has shown he has a nice skill set so far.

 

[BlueBaron]

Reports are hes looking for an opportunity to play in the NHL right away...only 2 teams Dreger listed i can think of that can offer that right away are Buffalo and Edmonton

Perhaps Toronto, unless they hang onto Bernier and Reimer...but that is a hot mess to go along with the garbage media...hometown or not...he'd be smart to avoid that place.


He should just sign in EDM and then all be good

People who live in glass houses should not be throwing stones in this weather.

 

[613Leafer]

Tim? He was drafted by the Nordiques.

True. I kind of lump him in with the undrafted guys cause he left for Europe for years, Quebec/Colorado lost his rights like a decade before he became a starter in the NHL, when he was signed as a UFA with limited NHL experience.

 

[Jeti]

There seems to be a small fury over signing this guy.

Do you remember when teams were competing to sign Gustavsson before he came over from Europe? Remember how he was given the nickname "the monster" before ever playing in the NHL?

It's only hyped because it's like a late-season mini-UFA period. Hypothetically, if teams were only allowed to sign guys from Europe and the NCAA in the summer, these signings would barely be a blip on TSN's radar and only if they could involve the Leafs in the story.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Can't see him signing with Buffalo or Edmonton.

What goalie wants to play on a team with no defence?

 

[BlueBaron]

Can't see him signing with Buffalo or Edmonton.

What goalie wants to play on a team with no defence?

He might want to grow with his team and get playing time his first year ?

Probably not best for his career to start in the NHL on a bad team but he would see more money and that could be on his mind.

I think this is a player most teams would like learning in the AHL while not setting their hopes too high.