Varada and James have a brief friendly chat about the prospect of Ottawa getting their disgusting little mitts on contract holdout Ryan O’Reilly. Come away with us!
Varada says:
I know I wrote just the other day that I don’t think Ottawa should trade for anyone, but then I didn’t think a guy like O’Reilly was available. When I think about “replacing Spezza,” I guess I was thinking of going after a similar guy–veteran, in his prime, high-priced–and that’s not who I think Ottawa should be going after. O’Reilly, on the other hand, fits the rebuild pretty damn well. He’s a centerman, 22, shoots left, and has already pretty much proven himself in the NHL. Much like last year’s Kyle Turris trade, this seems like a great fit.
TSN reported that Colorado would look for a roster player and a top prospect in return. In terms of top prospects, Ottawa has plenty to spare, especially if they’re bringing in a center. While I wouldn’t really want to part with Zibanejad or Stone, I wonder if the Avs could be swayed by Noesen, Puempel, or even Ceci. It’s the “roster player” part where I get stuck. Who on Ottawa’s roster could you see the team parting with? Da Costa? It’s not like they’re going to trade for Phillips or Gonchar.
James says:
Interesting as O’Reilly crossed my mind in the last thread but my opinion differs on acquiring him in the spirit of the rebuild. As you pointed out, this would be similar to the Kyle Turris trade but for me Ottawa already made this trade when they acquired Turris. Though I do quite like O’Reilly’s age, I think that the acquisition of this player has to be the long term kind (hence the contract holdout). I’m not sure if Spezza needs to be replaced like this quite just yet. Yes, he is 29 years old but I simply dont think the rebuild will take so long that he will no longer be relevant as player by the time Ottawa finds itself in the “contender” conversation. I recognize that I am an almost frustrating defender of Spezza but it’s simply because I firmly believe that Spezza’s skill set is rare like Mr. Clean with hair. O’Reilly is a very good player and his career best 55 points in 81 games last season is good. Kyle Turris good. Spezza has 621 points in 611 NHL games as well as 51 points in 53 playoff games. Is he a perfect player? No but that kind of production is something I don’t see the need to give away injuries problems and all. If, say, by the time Ottawa starts becoming a contender if Spezza is no longer a first line caliber centreman, that’s a pretty dynamite 2nd line pivot to have much like how Alfredsson is still a pretty fantastic 2nd line player even at age 40. The Sens have been an organization that values career players and I think that Spezza should be one as he has certainly delivered on his pedigree for 9 seasons now. Keep Spezza and I think he’ll give the team 1000 points eventually. Turris will likely be that important 55-60 per year guy.
Further the fact that Colorado wants a top prospect for O’Reilly is proof to me that the Av’s are willing to gamble that O’Reilly can be replaced by a top prospect. Maybe I’m a conservative with this but i think if Spezza is replaced it’s by a marquee FA of comparable quality that you have to pay through the nose for (IE Some other team’s Jason Spezza). That or…this is all a bunch of media hype and it just gets worked out between the two sides a la PK Subban was our generation’s Ryan O’Reilly.
I’m like a broken record with this but take into consideration all the bitching that went down / kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind of still goes down about giving up David Rundblad and a second for Kyle Turris. I dont think a week goes by without someone talking about him in a Sens blog (that isnt ours) comment section or on twitter or something. Turris has stepped right into the top 6 and played well and people still talk about Rundblad like he’s the one who got away. There’s little doubt that Rundblad will be a good player and we got one in return which is great. As Sens fans we know how much it sucks when it doesn’t work out. Where iz you going with this one James? We’ll put simply, I dont see the need to give up a roster player AND a prospect to be able to give Ryan O’Reilly his next contract as I think with the wealth of prospects that the organization currently holds we will soon discover we have our own O”Reilly that we had to surrender nothing beyond what we’ve already surrendered for the pick in the first place (Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly). I’m a quantity man when it comes to drafting and I think that’s something Ottawa should hang onto. It’s the Jason Spezzas of the world that are so hard to find so dont give them up when you dont have to.
Welcome To Your Karlsson Years 
“It’s the Jason Spezzas of the world that are so hard to find so dont give them up when you dont have to.”
Was the question Spezza + Prospect for O’Reilly? I wouldn’t expect the Sens to do anything with Spezza than keep him and maybe make him a cyborg.
Would O’Reilly have to become the captain?
Personally I’d favour tanking, but that’s a hard sell to the players and to Alfie. I don’t think the Sens really have any non-prospect roster players that are healthy that anyone would want.
Sorry if it was a little confusing. This was a follow up discussion from a previous post (linked above) about the prospect of replacing Spezza after he went down for the year but then a little something called Matt Cooke is Human Garbage happened and delayed this from getting posted til today. I cant speak for Varada (and really who CAN in this workaday world?) but what I’m saying is if you take on O’Reilly you have to sign him to a long term deal which gets a little awklward considering we just signed Kyle Turris long term and Spezza still has years left on his contract. On top of that you have to give up a player and top prospect for him. Of course there are no guarantees but I am confident that Ottawa is currently developing an O’Reilly type guy that if the organization is just patient they can have without giving up anything….or one could say they already have this kind of player in Turris.
As for tanking, well whatever happens happens. If there’s ever a year to do poorly this is it. The thing is I just dont think Ottawa is bad enough to tank which is very impressive considering the blows they’ve suffered. The goaltending is strong, the rookies and call ups, tough unspectacular, have played above expectations and if the remaining regulars if they can start scoring i dont know…TWO FRIGGING GOALS A GAME they likely wont tank as nice as it would be to get a great draft pick.
Yeah, it’s either the Sens have the depth to trade for him and have a Centre situation not unlike the Penguins’ last year (except for a lot of talent), or the have the depth to make it unnecessary to trade for him.
I think they made a good point about O’Reily on TSN the other night: The Avs don’t want to pay him like he’s a top player, but they want to trade him for top player value. Some conflicting issues with that.
Frankly, I don’t think he fills a need for the Sens. I’m comfortable with Spezza-Turris-Z. Smith down the middle for the next decade. If the team is going to make a move for a top player, it needs to be either a first-line winger or top-four defenseman. A center like O’Reily is a luxury, and that’s not the kind of thing I think the team should pursue when they still have actual *needs* to address.
Turris “I can score 30 but…not now mmkay, I’ll score 30 whenevz.”
Spetz-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I am done with him, we are winning and playing playoff-type hockey.
THE BIG TRADE-SHAKEUP:
Spezza, Karlsson to St. Louis Blues for David Backes, Alex Pietrangelo, 1st in 2013 (if they have it), 2nd in 2013 and 2nd in 2014. We get a center in Backes that can play both neds 8 years sooner than Spezza learned to, Pietro is a stud and hasn’t sustained any major injuries and we get picks as well. Hitchock can crush Spezza and Karlsson’s souls when Spezza’s back isn’t exploding nad Karlsson isn’t taking Dustin Brown skates in his ankles.
THE BIG CONFEWENCE BY MUWWAY:
“Hewwo all. Thish is a shurprising turn of eventsh. We talked with doctorsh and they shaid Spezha would never be back to 100%, point per game form. Karlshon was in the line-up when we got shut out twice and we feel he’sh not going to produce 80+ pace seasons…Backesh is just elite, Pietrangelo already knowsh how to play in his own end and we have Bluesh firsht, shecond and sshecond in 2014. Everyone write how shmart I am or I stop talking to you and tell you how shmart I am.”
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah………….CAPUCCINO COVERED CHOCOLATE MINTS BLOW THIS UP BABY.
Oh, the site obv needs a rename to PositingPietrangeloPrimePositions, yo.