Sabres stay busy, acquire Ryan O’Reilly from Avs in five player deal

Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray had himself a very busy Friday. After trading for Robin Lehner in the morning, he then completed a deal to acquire Ryan O’Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche not long before selecting Jack Eichel No. 2 overall during Friday’s NHL Draft.

The full deal: O’Reilly, Jamie McGinn for Nikita Zadorov, Mikhail Grigorenko, J.T. Compher and the 31st pick the 2015 draft. 

After the Avs acquired and later signed Carl Soderberg, that all but signaled the O’Reilly would be dealt this weekend. The 24-year old center is entering the final season of his deal carrying a $6 million cap hit.

O’Reilly’s tenure in Colorado might be best remembered for his signing an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames in 2013, only for the Avalanche to match it. The stunning part of that saga was that since he played in the KHL after the NHL lockout had ended, he would have been subject to waivers had the Flames ended up with him.

Grigorenko, an RFA, was expected to be move after there was talk he might head to the KHL after being unhappy with his situation in Buffalo.

Murray has now added Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, Eichel, O’Reilly and Lehner during this rebuild of the Sabres. They’ll enter July 1 with about $15 million in cap space to play with and upgrade in other areas. 

– – – – – – –

Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy