Why the Sabres traded Matt Savoie for Ryan McLeod

Why the Sabres traded Matt Savoie for Ryan McLeod

I’m Lance lowski the Sabers beat writer for the Buffalo News we have a trade to talk about the Sabers sent Matt seavoy one of their top prospects of the Edmonton Oilers for Center Ryan McLoud who I’m sure some of you have watched in the Stanley Cup Final with uh Conor McDavid and Leon dyle as well as right- Winger Tyler Tulio who will be in Rochester a throwin to the deal this is really about Matt sooy and Ryan McLoud we all know the Sabers were very hesitant to trade a prospect like Matt Sao they refused to part with part with him or eruri Kulik in 2023 when the Arizona Coyotes were shopping Jacob Chan times have changed though urgency has changed expectations have changed missing the Playoffs caused Kevin Adams to change his approach when it came to that Prospect pool and the most recent draft just a a couple weeks ago at this point also altered their their perspective their willingness to make this type of move cona helenius the finished Center the Sabers drafted I expect him to be in Rochester next year and when you have helenius Noah osland Yuri Kik Isa rosan Anton wallberg add in Victor noev somebody like sooy became Expendable now we could talk about this trade on two fronts at first I want to address the aoy part of it because I was brought on Edmonton radio shortly after the deal and they couldn’t believe or understand why the Sabers would part with seavoy and if you just looked at Hockey DB Elite prospects of course I you wouldn’t have the context you wouldn’t really understand the full picture here but injuries have been an issue for Matt seavoy nothing significant of course but it’s just been one minor sort of ailment after another that is really slowed his progress at times prevented him from making the NHL roster this past season and remember Matt seavoy injured his elbow and his shoulder on a hit in the finale of the rookie Prospect challenge back in September if that doesn’t happen he probably makes the Sabers roster Zack Benson returns to to Junior and we’re talking about a different type of trade today but seavoy has to go back to the Western Hockey League average two points per game in the regular season LED his team to a WHL championship they reached the Memorial Cup he was going to be a Winger in Rochester though based on the other centers in the pipeline plus yeah you look at mustra the way they used seavoy the last couple games of their season he was on the wing BR Jagger Bren Jagger the top prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins was their best center sooy played the wing he’s almost NHL ready this is going to be be difficult to stomach if he does end up on Edmonton’s roster at some point this season the only thing in my opinion that’s holding Matt seavoy back is physically is he going to be strong enough to win Puck battles to find time and space we saw how challenging it was for him in that very short small sample size three plus minutes in Buffalo you know you go back to the playoffs with Rochester last spring he’s going to be a good player I’m not betting against him the sabes their Scouts their development coaches Kevin Adams they love Matt seavoy so I understand how difficult it was for them to part with a player like this it’s just that they feel let’s say for example there’s an injury in the top six this year based on their own internal evaluations they feel that somebody like Yuri Kik is ahead of Matt seavoy isak rosan may even be ahead of Matt seavoy at this point you know based on their internal projections So based on the way they want to play the to win now they don’t feel like they can you know if they’re going to move a prospect this is somebody they’re more comfortable with moving and they’re adding a very interesting player here I know if you look at sheer production points and goals of course or Ryan McLoud it’s not going to stand out if you look at the underlying numbers though how he was used the faceoff success really getting the most you know helping his Lin mates achieve more you know Ryan McLoud is the third line center for the Buffalo Sabers he is the replacement for Casey midd side a much cheaper replacement a 2.1 million cap hit for this coming season he’s a restricted free agency a restricted free agent pardon me in the summer of 2025 so if this does work out he may have to be paid as much as the sabes decided not to give Casey middle said that is a problem they hope to have a year from now of course and then they will have perhaps Siri Kik ready for the NHL conen is ready for the NHL so it’s a different conversation at that point if this does work out the Sabers are not concerned about that potential dilemma they need to get into the playoffs there is an urgency to win now Ryan McLoud certainly for solidifies their depth chart down the middle which they had to do if you looked at their depth chart after unrestricted free agency they were really really going to rely on pton Krebs to take a step and Sam lafy to hold down that fourth line Center rle despite not really having played that position in the NHL prior to the past two seasons and although lafy won 51% of his faceu in 2223 between Chicago and Toronto that number took a hit this past season in Vancouver where he wasn’t used in a shutdown roll wasn’t on the penalty kill a whole lot so adding McLoud gives them a few options here now he is their third line Center but let’s say in the middle of a game you Lindy R feels he needs somebody else on the left wing next to Tage Thompson and Dylan cousins because of matchups you can move McLoud up he played very well on the wing next to Leon Dr title in Edmonton so this is a one of the fastest forwards in the NHL based on skating speed if you go by the NHL’s tracking data he could play next elite players he could center a line he can play a defensive role he can kill penalties one of the best penalty killers in the NHL last season so if that were to happen mid game then pton Krebs can move up lafy can move to Center if McLoud says is your third line Center Payton Krebs and Sam lafy could be on the fourth line and they could take face off depending on Hayden this Krebs is Left-Handed laf is right-handed that is a strategic weapon for a coach to have when you’re talking about winning faceoffs that is a huge Focus for Lindy Ruff as he takes over his head coach the Sabres were 32nd in the League last year Ryan McLoud was above 50% same laford he has the ability to be above 50% we’ve seen growth from Krebs and cousins in that area and they that needs to even improve you know especially as cousins they’re trying to get more out of him offensively and Krebs he’s got to ear in a spot on this team uh this creates competition by adding Ryan McLoud it adds more of a experience sure thing at a very important position for this team McLoud four goals in 24 playoff games you see what he did on the penalty kill for the Oilers though and he was shut down and it when it comes to the Penalty kill even though the Sabres made significant Improvement in that area last year under Marty Wilford who is back as an assistant coach and coaching the defense this this really indicates that Lindy Ruff would prefer to not use Tage Thompson on the penalty kill and perhaps even Alex tuck to keep tuck fresh to contribute on the power play and even strength you know we’ll see Jordan Greenway on the penalty kill but the minute’s get to an uncomfortable place for Greenway in a game they have more options that they can use I think we saw not only from Greenway but perhaps even Dylan cousins overuse really impacted their ability to play their game at even strength so having more options to use on the penalty kill more established experien proven options as a coach it gives Lindy Ruff an ability to change Personnel based on where your lineup is at where ice time is at where usage is at and when you have a coach who’s very experienced who understands how to leverage matchups how to make in-game adjustments that’s when players like mlau lafrey a kubel manstein become so valuable now I understand the concern about mlau when it comes to statistical production you would like to see them add go scorers right you look at Ryan McLoud Jason zooker and Sam lafy in particular these are d double digit goal guys but none of the three have produced more than 14 goals produced more than 14 go last season now zooker is a couple years to remove from being a 20 goal guy he’s done that several times in his NHL career but you know when you’re talking about losing Jeff Skinner walking away from Casey midad and that trade for bow and Byrum the sabes need goal scores they need somebody to put the puck in the net and they feel that zooker McLoud they can produce more in these circumstances with their potential line mates fact of the matter is though the Sabres are betting on their now these are the guys they pay these are the guys that they chose the Builder around Tage Thompson Dylan cousins Alex tuck JJ petka Jack Quinn and we’ll see about Zack Benson um you know in an ideal scenario he doesn’t get rushed into the top six but his ability defensively what he does in the four check is going to earn him those minutes that opportunity that ice time so we’ll see how it all shakes out you could look at this lineup right now and that bottom six is so much better than it was a couple months ago they’re deeper there’s more playoff like skill sets you know because when you’re you’re talking about a playoff team guys it’s it’s about roles where the guys fit and when you’re such a younger team like the Sabres were last season the year before you had too many young guys who didn’t know what roles they filled and you know Don Granado do his credit he helped bring Clarity to where guys can fit you know moving forward you know is Payton kreb somebody who could play on the power plate n from where he stands the Reps that he’s given you could just tell by the Sab moves that there’s not enough confidence there so they go out they get other players you know can can jack Quinn kill penalties you know we can now based on the experience he got under Granado so that helps but adding players like McLoud then freeze up Lindy Ruff to use players more at even strength or are more on the power play and those are two areas they need to produce more in next season so McLoud great skater fits a lot of what the sabes have also brought in this off season but he he’s not that really physical player that you know you get from malen scen or laery McLoud you know one of his criticisms in Edmonton was he didn’t get to the front of the net more so it’s going to be interesting to see where he fits um a really good Rush player he’s going to win face offs he’s going to be difficult to play against defensively so we’ll see how the rest of the roster shakes out but even after the the seavoy trade know as I’ll repeat Sab still have Kik in Rochester rosan Noah oin likely con helenius is going to be signed and brought over to play with the AMS which gives them another almost NHL ready Center that they could bring up if needed the big question everybody’s asking themselves though after this latest trade is who’s going to score goals cuz you know SEO was one of those prospects who people thought might be able to jump into that top six you know based on competition in training camp and whatnot but mccloud’s a bigger player 6’2 you know fits with where this roster is now and somebody they feel that they can get signed and be here longer term at a certain point if this all works out I’m Lance isasi from the Buffalo New there’s going to be plenty of analysis as we dig through this roster the depth chart where our players fit we’re still a couple of months away from Lindy ruff’s first training camp back as coach so we’ll start to get a little bit more clarity once they get on the ice of course until then though there’s where do they look on the how do things look on the wing defense that still feels like an unsettled area even after they signed Henry Oki harut to onee contract plenty to dig into I’m Lance saski the Buffalo News have a great holiday weekend take care

The Sabres capped their busy week by sending one of their top prospects, Matt Savoie, to Edmonton for center Ryan McLeod.