Potential Habs Trade Option: Ryan O’Reilly

O’Reilly and the Nashville Predators are in a serious slump, and based on O’Reilly’s post-game comments from their loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, it seems that the veteran centre has lost a lot of faith in his abilities as a player. Nonetheless, the 34-year-old O’Reilly still has a lot of good hockey if being put in the right situation and considering that the Predators are very unlikely to make the playoffs, he could find himself on the trade block in hopes to give him a change of scenery and allow Nashville to get much-needed pieces in their rebuild.

Meanwhile, O’Reilly is both a big centre who can produce points, while being a great left-handed faceoff man. Currently, the only Habs centre that is left-handed and able to win a good share of faceoffs is Joe Veleno, who happens to be more of a depth piece that should be in and out of the lineup. With that being said, the Habs could really use O’Reilly’s intangibles, such as his size and faceoff abilities. He is currently winning 58.2% of his draws, which ties him for 19th in the NHL in that category and would be the best on the Canadiens. He has also won over 55% of his faceoffs throughout his entire 16-year NHL career.

O’Reilly would take a lot of the pressure off Nick Suzuki in terms of needing to play over 20 minutes a night, as the Predators centre can be used in any situation, whether it is offensive or defensive deployment. In 16 games so far this season, O’Reilly has registered 6 goals and 10 points. He may not be as good as he once was on the offensive side of the puck due to declining foot speed, but he can still be a force when called upon as a 2nd line centre. The Predators are asking him to be their #1 centre, and at this point in his career, that doesn’t fit him anymore. 

Another aspect that O’Reilly helps the Habs is that he has only 2 years left on his contract, which makes him the perfect stopgap to not rush centre prospect Michael Hage into the role when he likely makes his NHL debut next year. In fact, O’Reilly could serve as a mentor to help Hage ease into being the likely 2nd line centre of the future. On top of helping Hage, getting O’Reilly could allow Dach to play on the wing as he struggles in the faceoff dot. 

Getting the puck off the draw more often than not will allow a 2nd line featuring O’Reilly, Ivan Demidov and Dach to create a lot of secondary offense. Not to mention having a guy like Demidov takes pressure off O’Reilly from being the playmaker and play driver of the line. 

To get O’Reilly, the Canadiens could take advantage of either the rising trade value of Oliver Kapanen from his early-season performances, or a prospect like Owen Beck, who is close to NHL-ready, along with 2 2nd round picks over the next two drafts. This may not seem like a lot, but given O’Reilly’s age and the possible struggles within the Predators organization, it may be enough to get it done. 

Do you think Ryan O’Reilly could be a good option for a 2nd line centre stopgap?