Buffalo Sabres Trade Matt Savoie to Edmonton Oilers for Ryan McLeod 

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.

Savoie was caught in a numbers game. When you look at the AHL and other teams.. Ostland, Rosen, Kulich, the guy they got this years draft, Benson from last year... all first rounders in the last few years. Savoie is small and not really a bottom 6 guy and that's where the opening was. McLeod fits the role needed and the sabres again.. are deep in guys trying to find a hole in the lineup to jump into.. With McLeod being a defensive minded as he is... this may in fact be a great trade for both sides...

McLeod really struggled in the playoffs, even defensively at times (he finished a -7 to add a bit of context, imperfect stat granted); he had 0 points in the first 14 games, finally scoring a goal against Dallas in game 15. He had 3 goals in the Finals, but keep in mind that one of those was the 8th goal in the 8-1 drubbing in game 4, and another goal was an empty-netter to make it 4-1 in game 6. So arguably 2 goals of actual consequence the entire playoffs, and not a single assist in those 24 games. Was also scratched for a game. That said, I still liked McLeod -- probably more than most Oiler fans. Fantastic speed, great PKer. Sabres seem to think he's going to be their 3rd line C, but keep in mind he's better on the wing -- especially if you want offensive production. Wish him the best in Buffalo, and I'll be lowkey cheering for the Sabres now because he's on their team. I hope he does well and reaches his potential, which is probably about 20 goals and 30 assists on the extreme high end.

Within Two weeks of a heartbreaking Stanley cup loss, JJ goes out there & says don’t worry Oil fans, I’ll make it all better!

Oilers fan since '79. The ghost of Nail Yakapov still hangs too heavy for me to celebrate just yet. Prospects are such a gamble.

Jeff Jackson Masterclass

It is truly mind boggling how good this off-season has been for the Oil. No massive overpays, no long term deals. JJ aid producing on a management level like he’s been doing this for decades. Sure he’s been on the agent side but being on the GM side is much different and so far he’s hit it outta the park

The second Rico re-signed with the Oilers this seemed inevitable for Mcleod. BUT MATT SAVOIE FOR RYAN MCLEOD???? Jeff Jackson is a wizard or he has blackmail on Kevin Adams

Sabres had to overpay because no one wants to sign in Buffalo and everyone, including the other teams GMs knows it. Savoie was also being pushed out in the prospects with Benson passing him and Kulich being almost ready this year, plus Ostlund and Rosen close behind. They have another smallish centre from this year’s draft too.

Savoie is projected far higher by fans than teams. Most of the NHL don't see him projecting as a real difference maker in the NHL.

This was basically an Edmonton cap dump and Adams gave him a 9th overall pick to take on the dumped asset. I like some of the players on Buffalo a lot but I'm not sure where Adams head is at? This is after buying out Skinner and not using the money for a new asset. Mind numbing!

McLeod may have had below-expectations playoffs as the 3C, but as a winger on the second line alongside Draisailt during the season, he often looked like 97 out there, with all kinds of speed, offensive havoc and playmaking ability.

This trade is so wow we need a time out✔🇨🇦🇺🇸😁

One step closer to keeping Evander Kane 🙌🏻 let’s gooooo!

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.

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.

Matr Savoie suffered two injuries and played pretty much full seasons in the WHL prior to this year where he had a shouldsr injury in dev camp

I love it. The Oil are low on young talent right now. Bring down the average age, free up some cap. But I don’t get the Buffalo side of it either.

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.

Ryan McLeod has blazing speed and just about to figure this out 😁🇨🇦🇺🇸

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.

As an oilers fan I feel like we won the lottery without winning the lottery. We were just in the Stanley cup finals and now we got a top prospect lol. We didn’t even have a first round pick and JJ did some magic and we draft Sam O Riley. Then we got Arvidson and Skinner signed Henrique , Brown and Janmark brought Picks back added Savoie for nothing. What next if JJ somehow trades Ceci for a top D man I’ll faint.

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.

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.

I think this is a deal that ends up a solid win-win for both teams. Buffalo badly needed a center to drive a matchup line with. McLeod has delivered high end defensive metrics, great pk guy, faceoffs are on a big upswing this past season, ability to drive the net, and absolutely fly. All things Buffalo sorely lacked. Edmonton gets a high upside guy in Savoie who I think works out really well there, but I don’t think he’s quite the overpay he’s made out to be - he’s been passed by two or three forwards in Buffalo’s system this past season. He’ll have plenty of time now to speed up his development now that he’s aged out of the CHL age rule (he was one day too young to play in the AHL full time last year). He’s got the speed, the shot, the hands, and the effort to be a great finisher and transition player. Still needs work as a consistent decision-maker, as a passer and defensively. He struggled at times internationally for Canada, and though his production was strong in junior, there was some streakiness you don’t love in his D+1 and D+2 years. All that to say, he’s got a lot of upside to go. Wouldn’t shock me if he blooms slightly later than anticipated but he’s probably going to the best place where the NHL club will play to his strengths in a high-skill and high-pace team in Edmonton, and it’ll be a blast to see him play on a line with McDavid or Draisaitl.

This one looks like a landslide for edmonton, the injuries are a concern but still...

Good trade here😁🇨🇦🇺🇸✔

As an Oilers fan I feel bad for Buffalo fans. This clown could have gone after so many players to win they already have guys like Tuch and Thompson along with one of the better defenceman in Dahlin. Go big fish hunting for a pair of top tier defence man like Skeji and make a trade. Tired of seeing the Sabres miss the playoffs just like Edmontons decade of Darkness.

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

I really don’t think it’s that bad of a trade for buff I’d definitely say that Edmonton got the better player but it’s not as lopsided as the media is portraying it to be McLeod will be fine in Buffalo.

Oilers had to move McLeod and this is what they got? WOW. NO oiler fan saw this coming. They got something that maybe SOMETHING in a couple of years for a player they had to dump

Lots of love from Edmonton

I've been a diehard Sabres fan for thirty-five years. Unless GMKA manages to trade for a Brady Tkachuk in the next two months to make all this worth it, I'm likely to change my team to Boston or Toronto. I am so disgusted by the moves this team has made and cannot take a third consecutive rebuild.

Sabres fans will bitch and moan about nearly any trade we make. I think the additions we have made give us more grit and depth in the bottom six. Ruff will certainly have this team playing tougher. As for Savoie, let's see how many games he actually plays.

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.

What did we Sabres fans do in a previous life to deserve this?

Need to look deeper at the Sabres, see the Sabres prospect pool ? .... Matt Savoie was passed on the depth chart last season by Zach Benson, and already have Kulich and Rosen in Rochester. Then at the '24 draft Buffalo picks Helenius .... Just to many forward prospects in the Sabres system

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.

What's crazy is even if McLeod is "his guy", and he needed to make this trade; Kevyn Adams overpaid SO BAD! Could've shipped out a 2nd round pick? That sounds like fair value. Instead... ship out top prospect. Interesting.

I wonder if C.Savoie thinks Him getting cut and losing his dream job is a ''fun little wrinkle'' 😒

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.

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.

Offer sheet by Sabres on Marner - $13,000,000 ×7? Something's up.

If he hit or blocked a shot he would still be a oiler

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.

McLeod isn't a 3c. He's a 4c at best but definitely better suited as a winger. Buffalo got destroyed in this trade

What you don't understand is that good players don't want to sign in Buffalo. You don't think he tried?

It's the summer of Jeff!

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.

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.

Nothing Kevyn Adams does makes any sense so this is very on brand

Reminds me of the Brassard for Zibenijad trade Ottawa made back in the day.

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. 👍👍

Dirty deeds done dirt 😂cheap🔥🎶🇨🇦🌐

FA’s don’t want to sign in Buffalo for fair money and Pegula doesn’t want to overpay. Simple as that. There’s also almost assuredly an internal cap.

On the extreme top end potential McLeod would look like William Karlsson. Savoie has a very high ceiling and he’s likely to hit it

bro all i have been seeing are rumors that teams dont want to deal with buffalo because they are too stingy and unrealistic then i watch kevyn over pay for a 3rd liner. this is such bull shit as a fan of the sabre. (i so like McCleod good add also their cap isnt 13 mill left still need to sign upl and 2 others)

I think the Sabres think they have all the pieces going forward, problem is if reality has the same timeline. Maybe an upgrade on Jokiharju, theyre missing that good right shot shut down defenceman that can log ice time, like a Larsson. I think they know their best chance is with Levi, but he needs help. So I think McLeod may answer some of that, and Quinn and Benson are needed to take that next step. Sabres are ready when Levi along with help can take that next step. Kraken- Larsson Sabres- Jokiharju Kisako 2nd 2025 This would save money to put towards Beniers

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.

Because Sabres top brass continue to make the stupidest choices we will see a 14 season with no playoffs at this rate with so much losing and disappointment I might as well go to a Canadian team and be a leaf fan

Faksa, Wennberg, Stenlund, Blueger, are some examples of players Buffalo could've picked up for free instead of McLeod. The difference between McLeod and them sure doesn't seem to be worth a Savoie. But it's no biggie. Buffalo still has more forward prospects than they can use and McLeod is both young and cheap, so they should get many years out of him compared to what they could out of these other guys. There's some value in having players stick around long term.

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.

I think Tullio is getting disrespected. He should see some NHL time this season.

with zero insider knowledge, I wonder if this was a hush hush trade request from Savoie.

Would not call McLeod a “great 2-way centre”.

So you're good with overpaying in FA contracts, but not in trade assets? For the Sabres, who will have to pay Peterka, Quinn, and Byrum next year, it makes much more sense to overpay in prospects, which they have a ton of.

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.

I’m betting no body here is involved in the nhl. No one really knows about savoie,he might be too injured to really progress. McLeod is better right now,he’s also been to a final,savoie has done nothing

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

Is this trade an overpayment on the Sabres side, yes. But in terms of the prospects the Sabres have, Savoie has kinda been jumped over by guys like Levi, Benson, and even Kulich. In terms of the cap space, yeah they have $13 Million but who’s signing or waiving their NTC/NMC to go to a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in 13 seasons?

Blake really just lying about who won the Memorial Cup amazing

Kinda wish the blues would trade saad for savoie😂.

Oilers finally understand the path to winning the cup is to fleece Buffalo

quite the epic beard

Buffalo could have gotten Tyler Johnson or Nick Cousin. Dumb asset management.

Truth

We might be the smallest team in the league now 😢😢

Another trade coming

this makes the Jeff skinner buy out make even less sense ???

In the context of the sabres buying out jeff skinner, this all makes even less sense

Free Palestine

🤦🏼‍♀️ oh Sabres, what the hell are you doing?

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.

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.

The trade is absolutely horrible Buffalo should have paid for ehlers or necas or someone I am pissed

Great deal for oilers wtf is Buffalo doing lol makes no sense

The Toronto reporter is shitting on Buffalo again what a surprise.

Sabres have plenty of Top A prospects that play similar to Savoie and Helenius that was Drafted this year is already Ahead of Savoie in the rankings. Sabres are in win now mode given different circumstances. The Bottom 6 has been totally Redone get ready for a better team with more Physicality and Speed. ADAMS i dont think is done. He may have 1 or 2 more trades in the pot Stewing

There is no excuse for this

worst trade ever...

Terrible value lol,I heard no one wants to play for Toronto. Skinner probably started it. It’s been a long time coming

😂🔥💰🇨🇦🇺🇸

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.

Its a business the Sabers dont make money

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

😂💰😂🇨🇦🇺🇸🔥

HAHAHAHAH the Warriors didn’t win the Memorial cup Jesse. Didn’t even make the final. This is your Nick Robertson is a defencemen moment. But kinda worse

I swear dude you wonder why you sit at 3k subs and views like this lmao.

The overvaluing of savoie when nobody cared this much about him previously is awfully silly

The Oilers won’t make the finals next season.