Old Faces in New Places NHL Free Agency Roundup Pt. 2

Previously in this series, I talked about the Toronto Maple Leafs signing of John Tavares. Tavares was always gonna be the biggest signing of the summer, but there were plenty more notable names that switched jerseys. One such player is Ryan O'Reilly.

Previous Season: (With Sabres): 81 Games Played, 24 Goals, 37 Assists, 61 Points

O'Reilly is coming into his 10th season in the NHL and will be joining his 3rd NHL team, the St. Louis Blues. He spent the last 3 seasons in Buffalo with the Sabres and the previous 6 seasons that with the Colorado Avalanche. O'Reilly has been an incredibly consistent player throughout his career. Since the 2011-12 season he has put up at least 55 points every full season (excluding the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season). The 2013-14 season was especially successful for him. O'Reilly had a career highs in both goals (28), and points (64), and the season was capped of when he took home the Lady Byng trophy as the leagues "most gentlemanly and sportsmanlike" player. During that season O'Reilly only recorded two penalty minutes, yes two, which, for a player that plays as aggressively as he does on both ends of the ice is incredible. His offensive game is consistent and impressive in and of itself, but he gets it done defensively just as efficiently. This is shown when looking again at the 13-14 season, where he finished in the top 10 of Selke voting (the leagues best two-way forward). His previous season with the Sabres was the second best of his career, which you can see from the stats above.

His upcoming season with the Blues should be equally if not more impressive. The Blues roster he has joined is full of talent. Headlined by the Blues super-star Vladimir Tarasenko. Due to O'Reilly's two-way mentality, he can play up and down the line-up. Realistically though he should be a first or second line center, potentially behind Brayden Schenn. That being said O'Reilly should have plenty of offensive production through either the first or second Power-Play.

Prediction: Taking all of that into consideration here is my prediction for O'Reilly's output. While O'Reilly left a decent offensive team in Buffalo, he's joined a more productive team in St. Louis. O'Reilly will add 26 Goals, 40 Assists, and 66 points. He should enjoy another productive season, potentially getting close to, or surpassing career highs in multiple categories.

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