Buffalo Sabres Trade Matt Savoie to Edmonton Oilers for Ryan McLeod
[Music] the Jessie Blake sports report with Jessie Blake as soon as we were done recording the Steve dangle podcast today a trade happened as is tradition for the sdp and because I did not get a chance to talk to you about this trade in that other place where I talk hockey that is why I’m here with you tonight to talk about the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabers making a trade so the Edmonton Oilers sent Ryan McLoud and Tyler Tulio to buffalo in exchange for Matt seavoy and the trade on the surface leaves some question marks but first let’s just get into the players that are sent both ways Tyler Julio can be kind of I don’t want to say disregarded but he’s not an important piece here it’s a fifth round draft pick it’s probably somebody who’s not going to play in the NHL at all any point for the Buffalo Sabers this season we’ll see if that changes but he’s an AHL that’s that’s kind of what it is on Tyler Ryan Cloud however is the third line Center that the Buffalo Sabers need and they have acquired he had a good performance at the end of the playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers Ryan McLoud struggled mightily for the Edmonton oers to begin the playoffs eventually got healthy scratched because of his lack of Point production but then had a good end of the playoff run with the Edmonton oers as they just fell short against the Florida Panthers he was a part of one of the most impressive penalty killing units of all time time in the playoffs he he was a big part of that him and Warren Fogle who went to LA and now Edmonton has also lost Ryan McLoud but Edmonton why they did this deal is they don’t have the cash space to keep Ryan McLoud Ryan McCloud carries a $2.1 million cap hit for next season he’s not a offensive threat at all moments but he’s a great two-way Center and there’s not room in Edmonton’s lineup for him if were being frank at that cap hit at this place where they are in their organization they need to dump that Ryan they need to dump that salary of Ryan McLoud and get another piece and that piece they got back is Matt seavoy and for Buffalo the reason they acquired Ryan McLoud is they need W they need center help he’s going to be great depth he’s going to play on the third line Center like I said is probably going to be his place at the line it’s July 5th I can’t predict the line that much but it looks like he’ll be their third line Center which is good for Buffalo this is what they need they need help in the four group they need to help at a lot of places to be honest but this R having Ryan MCL definitely helpen Matt seavoy Buffalo is Rich with prospects they they drafted a another Center in the first round this year they have a lot of centers in the system he was being squeezed out he also did not have very many healthy Seasons but when he was healthy he was fantastic 47 points in 23 games winning the Memorial Cup with the Moosejaw Warriors this season he had 20 24 points in 19 playoff games and like the regular season I said 47 in 23 but matoy has dealt with a ton of injuries and I haven’t even mentioned the most important part about Matt seavoy and the reason why this trade leaves some questions he’s the ninth overall pick from not this past draft in 2024 not the 2023 draft but the 2022 draft which is very recent the ninth overall pick went for Ryan McLoud who was going to be a third line Center on bu saers and this is where we get to the giant question mark on why would Kevin Adams do this trade I know why Jeff Jackson president CEO head honcho interim GM of the Edmonton Oilers would do this trade for the Oilers you get a great Prospect you get not only a great Prospect but somebody who might be a step away from playing an important role with the Edmonton Oilers having Conor McDavid and Leon Dr a locked up long-term on giant contracts which will I assume is coming soon you need these pieces young guys masso still on his ELC he’s played one career NHL game 11 career AHL games he’s still on his ELC you need great talent who’s eventually going to be a Winger somewhere in this lineup on cheap deals to keep your contention window open this deal is perfect for the Edmonton Oilers Edmonton oers fans be happy with one day having Matt seavoy playing on the wing because he’s a center right now but he’ll probably be shifted to the wing if you if you look at the trajectory of his career and where he’s been playing buffalo on the other hand let’s get to the Buffalo side of this because the value that Kevin Adams has placed on Matt seavoy makes no sense two years ago you took him in the top 10 ninth overall and now you’re moving this player for a third line center that is terrible value for a that high of a draft pick and especially because the Buffalo Sabers are I believe $1 13 million under the cap and when you are $13 million under the cap it should be your job on July 1st to spend that money on a forward that you need and what did Kevin Adams do instead of just spending yeah $1 13.7 million projected to be under the cap currently in this moment you don’t send a prospect out and acquire a centerman that you need when you have the cash assets to just buy what you need why give up something when you can give up nothing I don’t know who Buffalo should have went after but you are buffal alalo you have the cap space overpay for what you need in this moment because you will still be well under the cap I know you got RFA deals to do not everybody is locked up right now for the Buffalo Sabers they still have to hand out a deal to Payton Krebs Bo Byam needs a new deal next season like okay you’re holding off for that also I’m trying to find excuses for this I’m trying to find excuses for why you wouldn’t hold on why you wouldn’t just go out and buy what you need and I can’t come up with many excuses because cage Thompson’s locked up Dylan cousins is locked up Rasmus doin’s locked up Owen power’s locked up everybody is good and under contract UPL Mr peka Lucan needs an RFA deal as well but that’s not going to all cost you $13 million I don’t I’m I’m going to say it one more time I don’t understand the asset management by Kevin Adams and the Buffalo Sabers it’s ridiculous to give up on a ninth overall pick at this point and to move them for a third line Center that you can easily just sign in free agency because you have a lot of money to spend this there’s been rumors about the pulas having an internal cap on the Buffalo Sabers this would speak to that if they’re unwilling to just spend the money and giving up prospects for something they could just buy I think that would lend to the reasoning behind this but either way it’s a bad way to run a hockey team it’s a bad way to run a hockey team I wanted Buffalo to take a step last year they didn’t do it I expected I want buffalo to take a step this year I don’t know if they’re going to do it based on how they’ve done so far this off season and wow it could be another long year for Sab fans if this thing doesn’t project way higher than it looks right now interesting tidbit as well to throw in fun fact before we close this out here um Edmonson cut Matt seo’s brother Carter seavoy like a week ago he spent two seasons with two seasons with AHL Bakersfield and they just cut him and then now they’ve traded for his brother so hilarious situation there I assume there’s a lot of bickering going on in house or like hopefully Carter’s just happy for Matt you know if you’re a good brother you’re just happy for him but that’s a real fun little wrinkle to this whole story let me know what you think about the trade in the comments if you’re watching on YouTube or if you’re uh listening on audio and you’re interacting the show which you can find this on audio on Spotify on Apple wherever you get your podcast you can find this as well uh let me know wherever you interact with the show and if you like this video hit like if you like really liked it hit subscribe I always appreciate every subscription I get um and every like on every video so uh please do that I appreciate it that is it for me I will see you back very soon good night and that is how it’s done the Jessie Blake sports report with Jessie Blake Jesse Blake the guy that likes to hear his name twice in one sentence sure I know him no he doesn’t have an ego at all
We have a trade to announce! Late Friday afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres traded 9th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Matthew Savoie, to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio. The trade leaves many questions to be asked about Buffalo’s asset management.
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37 Comments
Matthew Savoie never even played for The Memorial Cup let alone won it. The 2024 Memorial Cup Champions were The Saginaw Spirit of The OHL.
buffalo bunch of losers
It seems Kevin Adams had some reservations about 5'9" Savoie, prompting him to trade Savoie for a 6'3" established NHL player. It's uncertain if Savoie, given his smaller stature, will fulfill the expectations of a top ten draft pick, as smaller players often face challenges in transitioning to the NHL. If Savoie becomes a scoring powerhouse, Buffalo might regret the decision, but for now, Buffalo appears to have won this trade.
Just was thinking about this deal, Savoie is a smaller guy. For several seasons Buffalo has drafted some smaller players (Zach Benson immediately comes to mind). A 5 foot 8/9inch player probably wont survive long in a bottom six role, and theres too much competition to choose his height over someone taller. The deal isn’t great, but that might come more down to timing than anything. The league was okay being small 2 years ago, but just look at this years draft alone.
McCloud can at least give you 25-30 points as a bottom 6 on EDM, but what if McCloud gets a bit of the Calle Jarnkrok usage. Plug and play anywhere in the line up, predominantly works in the middle to bottom 6, but can give a good game or two on the top line. As a Sabres fan, I wanted Savoie to work so much, but more often then not I was wondering where he was.
Us Sabre fans are fed up with 'potential'. The Sabres have stockpiled prospects and smaller skilled players for years and it has not gotten us to the playoffs. Buffalo can be a difficult sell to UFA's so we have to overpay to get players here, and even then we rarely land a high-profile player. Savoie is injury prone and Benson and Kulich already passed him on the depth chart. I think he's a good player and i wish him well in Edmonton. But the Sabres need help in the bottom 6 (especially in their own end) and a better year from their top 6 forwards. Not denying his skil or potential, but Savoie was expendable at this time.
Yea cuz good free agents are just comping at the bit to come to Buffalo, who are on EVERY PLAYERS no-trade clauses btw. The Sabres cant just go out and buy what they need like most teams. 👍👍
Okay, just stop! Inhale rainbows, exhale tension. I live in Edmonton, I've seen Ryan play. This guy is a killer 3 C . Man can this dude skate. He is NHL bonafide, You are going to love him. We spent a lot of time and money developing Matts older brother Carter as a prospect, Didn't work. You guys will love Ryan…relax
i dont care if Savoie hasn't played a full season, even 10 games in the show yet. This is an awful trade by Buffalo. Utter stupidity in my opinion. Even if Savoie wanted it, just talk to him and say we need you, he was drafted only 2 years ago, you have to let him get a real chance. Especially in a place like Buffalo.
Nobody wants to play here because we are losers. We need to find random ass guys who dont have the leverage to say no to us. Once we start making the playoffs it will change just like Florida, we have a strong market in Buffalo. They are really leaning in to the Lindy Ruff style team. Here is hoping Benson, Kulich and Helenius pan out.
worst trade ever…
Sabres fan here! To be honest not mad at the the trade sabres have a log jam in the system and savoie was passed by benson and kulich and need bodies for the nhl
Not sure how Buffalo scores next year. They dump a 9th overall pick from 2022 who had 71 points in 42 games last year in Junior. He was their second most highly rated prospect.
They barely have one offensive line now.
Hard to believe any management is actually this stupid. This has to be a part of a larger deal going down soon. Mitch Marner has to be traded this summer or he’ll get booed in Toronto home games. There has to be something more behind this.
Reminds me of the Brassard for Zibenijad trade Ottawa made back in the day.
Another trade coming
One step closer to keeping Evander Kane 🙌🏻 let’s gooooo!
Ill preface this that im a sabres fan and i hate that Savioe was moved without even really getting reps in the league to get any idea of how he will do, however:
There seems to be a lot of hand wringing over this so I'll do my best to explain. I think this contributes to buffalos success, eventually.
First, Savioe. Blue chip prospect, but hes had trouble staying healthy….in the CHL. In my opinion, there is elevated risk that moving up leagues where the hits are harder and faster )even worse if its the AHL, which i think is physically more grindy). Admittedly, the sabres already seem to have one of those on the roster, Jack Quinn has spent a bunch of time on IR, but hes already made the show, so Savioe is more expendable.
Now the team. Offense 2 seasons ago was sky high, with almost no injuries to the top 6 until late season on that final push. Last season was:
Tage Thompson: injured wrist played through, new dad, came on at the end when he looked noticably more healthy.
Jack Quinn: torn anchilles tendon, offseason workout. Came in mid season and took some time to get to speed.
Dylan Cozens (team canada loves to rave about him) concussed in a fight with hathaway. Off all season till about march. Started to look like himself, looked great for canada.
Skinner: offense fell off, probably due to linemates injuries, defensive black hole always. Didnt see much ice late season when they started winning more.
Alex Tuch: played noticably banged up, also first time dad. Noticably better late season when he looked less hampered (shoulder i think…)
And not to mention one of my biggest criticisms of the team, they looked like they thought they "made" it last season, and played the first half like they were conserving energy for the playoffs, and that they could get by on talent alone. The lindy hiring was made to address that bit.
Are these moves going to pay off? I dont know. Whats kinda refreshing (which i can understand going Super Poorly) is that theyre making team decisions without regard for how the league thinks. Get the players THEY think will help THEM, and not worry about what others think. Good luck sabres, im still rooting for you
What you don't understand is that good players don't want to sign in Buffalo. You don't think he tried?
If Adams just waited it out he could of had Macloud for a 2nd or 3rd rounder later in the summer…brain dead senseless trade.
Bro I’m so used to getting fleeced as an oiler fan that I don’t feel bad doing the fleecing just this once. Remember the Griffin Reinhart deal? That still hurts my heart, so this is a good change of pace. The last time I was this happy during an offseason was when Oilers won the 2015 lottery draft.
Mcleod is a good pick up for Buffalo, he's young, his contract is good. he plays hard. Mcleod was very good in the Stanley Cup Finals, that's what matters. The prospect being traded is just that " a prospect that may be a bust" Good trade Buffalo, you got a proven Stanley Cup player. Read what the Buffalo analytics were on Mcleod, it's very good. I see why they made this trade.
MacLeod played himself off the Oilers when he showed in the playoffs that he had zero hair on his ass and wouldn't battle for the puck in the corners….While watching McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge and Hyman getting the crap beat out of them…..he even got benched for it for a couple of games.
Blake really just lying about who won the Memorial Cup amazing
Great deal for oilers wtf is Buffalo doing lol makes no sense
You're missing something in your argument. It's not so easy to go out and buy someone when no one wants to play in Buffalo. They can't really sign free agents.
Jackson dominated this summer's free agency, draft and trades, and he's not even a GM lol
Oilers finally understand the path to winning the cup is to fleece Buffalo
Why is it ok to slightly overpay free agents, but its not ok to slightly overpay in trades? Its hilarious to me how people note how many holes the Sabres had in their lineup last year, but Savoie couldn't earn a spot. Now he goes to a stacked Oilers team and hes supposedly gonna help them improve? Why cant it just be a win-win trade where it helps the Sabres fill a hole now and it probably helps the Oilers in a year or 2. Also, if it was easy for the Sabres to sign a 3C of similar skill at this low of a cap hit in free agency, they would've. They need to make these moves to be competitive and hopefully become a team of interest for future free agents. Sorry for the rant.
So some possible perspective from the Buffalo side. Kevyn Adams has put himself into a position where he is making whatever moves he can. Andrew Peters said on his podcast that he had a source which told him that other GMs don't like dealing with Kevyn Adams. Combine that with Buffalo being on every NTC under the sun and being unable to sign any high profile free agents (due to sucking for 13 years, the weather, the taxes, and not being a destination city) and this is what you get. Adams selling whatever he has to in order to buy whatever he can. The Malenstyn trade was the same thing although a bit less severe. A 4th line grinder isn't worth a high second round pick but he made the trade because it was all he could do. All signs point to Adams not having many options and if they don't make the playoffs, any bad deals he made won't be his problem in a year anyways.
In the context of the sabres buying out jeff skinner, this all makes even less sense
I think Tullio is getting disrespected. He should see some NHL time this season.
What’s even worse than the trade itself is that 80% of my fellow Sabres fans love this trade and our hailing Mcleod as the new savior in Buffalo. A total embarrassment.
with zero insider knowledge, I wonder if this was a hush hush trade request from Savoie.
no one wants to come to buffalo, Jesse. Savoie was #3 top prospect. He was passed, expendable. We had to get who we could, who couldn't say no.
Savoie gets injured often and he's small. Obviously he isn't bulking/compensating for his natural shortcomings; nor is he playing in a league that's truly comparable of talent.
Listen, I’m very happy that the Oilers are finally getting some great trades and signings done that aren’t immediately obviously bad. However, there’s a lot to this trade that many people are overlooking. McLeod is a phenomenal player at what he does (in my opinion, most of the time). He can be really good away from the puck and shows flashes of top 6 offence. But what the Oilers will really miss is his penalty killing skills – that will be the hardest thing to replace, as well as just having someone speedy and reliable on the 3rd/4th line. Buffalo got a great player who may very well break out after being traded to a new team.
I still believe the oilers won this trade, but I don’t think it’s quite as lopsided as people seem to think, especially considering Savoie is not guaranteed to be anything yet; the Oilers have bungled prospect development before, even when they don’t have injury problems.
he was a good killer, but he was on the ice for sooo many 5:5 goals in playoffs & a lot were his fault… hes not a good two-way center which is why the oil had to move him to wing during the playoffs.