Anaheim Ducks + Ryan O’Reilly = Stanley Cup?
The Colorado Avalanche want him; The Factor seems to want out. Here’s why Anaheim should be interested.
The Anaheim Ducks are a team that came within a Game 7 in the Honda Center from going to compete for the right to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup.
When a team is that close to playing for hockey’s ultimate prize, conventional wisdom tells you that the franchise should do everything in its power to keep its roster mostly intact, maybe pick up a free agent or two, and count on motivation to do its thing.
Of course, there is also the saying, “Fortune favors the bold,” and if I’m reading the readers at this site correctly, many of you would rather see the Anaheim Ducks be bold and commit to winning a championship sooner than later.
So, rather than using the 27th pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft to pick up a young stud such as Brock Boeser, who COULD become an NHL player EVENTUALLY, we here at Pucks of a Feather are going to encourage the Ducks to include their first pick in a package that brings the final piece of the puzzle to Anaheim this summer, starting with Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly.
Why the Avalanche Will Listen
Despite Colorado GM Joe Sakic’s insisting that the Avalanche want to sign O’Reilly to a long-term contract before the beginning of next season, it’s rumored that the Avalanche will be listening hard to try offers from other teams, at least according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman:
"I was on that conference call with Sakic yesterday, and Patrick Roy, so I was listening. It’s not that – the news was not that he said he’s not shopping O’Reilly, the news was that Joe Sakic made it very clear that he did not want to go into a situation where this was going to be a distraction for O’Reilly or the Avalanche next season.“So they are looking at a situation where if they don’t think they can get him signed, they are going to trade him.“And of course on the conference call Sakic said, as the Avalanche have many times, that they love Ryan O’Reilly as a player and they would like to get him signed. I just think the thing you’re going to have to convince us all is that can you really sign him. You really get the sense that the Avalanche could – I mean, they’d know because they can extend him as soon as July 1.“So I look at it as if nothing has really changed there. They’re hoping to sign him. They may not be able to. I think the sense is they probably can’t, so they’re really listening hard, I guess, on him."
Rumors currently link the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Avalanche when it comes to possible suitors for the Factor, but if Freidman is to be believed, the Anaheim Ducks can most certainly become a factor, as the Ducks have a surplus of something the Leafs desperately need:
"Well, yesterday on the conference call – Like, I had heard they wanted a left-shot defenseman. If you look at them, Erik Johnson is a rightie shot and Tyson Barrie is a rightie shot. So I had heard they were looking for a left-hand shot D to play with those guys. And then somebody disputed that and said it’s not 100 percent the key.“Well, yesterday on the conference call I asked and Patrick Roy took the question and said, ‘Look, I’m a coach, I’ll answer that. Yes, I do believe we need a left-hand shot defenseman, a top-4 guy. No offense to who we’ve got here, but we need a top-4, left-hand D to play with Johnson.’“So I do think if you’ve got somebody who is a leftie shot, a defenseman who can play top 4, then you potentially have a match for what Colorado is looking for."
Since the Ducks currently have Cam Fowler, Simon Despres, Clayton Stoner, Hampus Lindholm, and Francois Beauchemin (granted, not for much longer) – all left hand shots – on the roster, it’s obvious that Anaheim have what Colorado needs, plus a first-round pick and a prospect, to boot.
Why the Anaheim Ducks Would Consider This
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Ryan O’Reilly is a 50 points per season guy who either give the Ducks enviable depth up the middle, or an absolutely monstrous first line if Anaheim choose to play him at left wing, something the Avalanche experimented with last season. Love ya, Patrick Maroon, but every Ducks fan in the world would faint if they learned that Anaheim could roll out a first line of O’Reilly-Getzlaf-Perry in 2015-2016.
The Factor’s offensive numbers won’t absolutely blow you away (17-38-55 in 2014-2015), but he’s clearly an upgrade over Maroon and still gives Anaheim a physical presence to place in front of the opposition’s net minder.
Of course, for those of you who follow hockey, you understand that O’Reilly’s true value comes from his ability to play a 200-foot game. Sure, that’s the biggest cliche in the NHL these days, but with O’Reilly it’s absolutely true. He wins faceoffs at a career rate of 52%, and can battle on the boards and in front of the net. On defense, he averages 46 blocks per season and – even better – forces 88 takeaways per season. That’s nearly twice that amount of takeaways that Ryan Getzalf causes.
O’Reilly is not an elite player – but he’s really good in almost all areas, and would instantly make the Ducks the favorites to win the Stanley Cup next season.
What Would Keep This Trade From Happening
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First of all, Anaheim is not known for trading draft picks in the weeks leading up to the draft. Pulling off a trade like this is going to require the Ducks to deviate from the course, something a team that was one win away from going to the Stanley Cup Finals is probably in no hurry to do.
Worse, the Ducks would have to give up one of their young defensemen in order to make trading Ryan O’Reilly worth Colorado’s time. Forget Hampus Lindholm – that kid is not going anywhere. It would be great to think that Ducks GM Bob Murray could convince Sakic that Stoner is a top-4 defenseman – God bless him if he could!
But don’t hold your breath.
That leaves Cam Fowler or Simon Despres as players about whom the Colorado Avalanche would inquire, most likely Fowler, who is the better option on offense. Will the Ducks trade a 20-something defenseman for the Factor (who, at 24, is still developing his game)?
Tough call. O’Reilly can erase mistakes with his defensive accumen, but Anaheim’s defensive stable has a scary amount of potential, and I would be hesitant to ship one of those studs out.
As much as I love Ryan O’Reilly (I spent hours imploring the Buffalo Sabres to go out and get this kid when I wrote for FanSided’s Sabre Noise) and feel he would make the Ducks the favorite to win the West next season, I don’t give this trade more than a 20% chance of happening.
Let me know what your thoughts are on this trade scenario below!