Just the potential of having another top 6 high scoring forward is worth it for oilers. Worst case for oilers is he's a bust and McLeod continues his 3rd line role, (a player that you can get much easier in trade or ufa)
Well the Oilers won it on value. When trading for a pick or a prospect there's expected value in return. For example, the Oilers traded the 16th overall for Griffin Reinhart who was already a borderline bust. So even at the time they lost the trade. It ended up looking even better after Barzal turned out but either way at the time of the trade it was bad asset management by the Oilers. They should have gotten more for the pick nomatter how the pick turned out
I’ve watched Ryan mcleod for years now, the oilers didn’t lose this. 35 yea told Adam Henrique came in and basically stole his job after a few months. The cap space is already a win for Edmonton, but if savoie turns into anything it’s an absolute robbery.
Yeah McLeod is 6’3 but I’ve never seen him throw a hit in an oilers uniform lol. If that’s what the sabres are looking for they got the wrong guy 😂 absolute steal for the oilers my goodness
From Buff, at first I was like wtf, but thought about it for a bit, and he did drop from being our top prospect to like our 4th best before the trade. And he’s nowhere near NHL ready. We needed a 3rd line center and we got him in McLeod
As an oilers fan I love this so much. Any player with a chance to play with McDavid or Driasitl is already so interesting, but one as good and young as savoie could be different. If he develops into what I believe he could be, he could fit very well on one of the top two lines with McDavid or Driasitl
Also worth mentioning that anyone with promise getting to mentor under Connor McDavid? That is just something you won't get anywhere else in the league.
He plays Centre and he does not want to play bottom 6...Buffalo didnt have a spot for him, I'm not exactly sure what the Oilers plan is for him either. Strengthens their prospect pool at least
@@Virusruneblazer McDavid is a center but often plays the wing. I’m sure he’ll be fine with moving to the wing if it means playing with the best talent in the league
Oilers fan here. U wont be happy with mcleods game. He plays the same game, wont ever put up more than 25 to 30 pts... speed is all he has, no shot, not a great passer,refuses to hit or go into corners or drive the next. Oilers woulda taken a bag of pucks in return. Savoie is a bonus
It's an immediate winning trade for Buffalo. They're prospect rich and they need someone like McLeod. As an immediate benefit, Edmonton dropped its cap in the trade. Savoie will likely start in Bakersfield and how he turns out is up in the air. No matter how good a prospect looks on paper, a prospect is ultimately just that: a prospect. Buffalo traded for a sure thing that they needed for this coming season and Edmonton is taking a gamble.
Lol. You traded for a 3rd line center that doesn't hit, doesn't score, doesn't go to the net, sucks on the dot, can't generate offense and plays a soft perimeter game. Guys like him are a dime a dozen
Those 6 inches don’t matter if ya don’t hit. That prospect becomes the Oilers best and they can easily replace McLeod. Sounds like a Win for the Oilers to me.
The Oilers had to trade someone like McLeod to be CAP compliant and a player to be named later would have likely done it if teams held out. It’s a terrible trade no matter how you slice it.
It's not a direct comparison anyway. The Sabres traded for a forward they needed immediately. The Oilers are gambling on the hope that Savoie delivers on expectations and becomes an excellent young player in their less-than-spectacular pipeline. The trade is something both sides agreed to and one that Buffalo could afford. If both sides get what they wanted in the end, then it's a win-win trade.
Savoie wasn’t Buffalo’s top prospect. He was already passed by Benson, Kulich and Olsen who have playing extended time against men. Savoie still playing with teenagers. No room for all of them. Plus something about Savoie’s ongoing shoulder injuries adds more questions.
Right. If he was as good as oilers fans hope he is, he should be just outright destroying that league. Let alone in the AHL already. I was hopeful he was gonna work out, but I’m happy with the way the Sabres are starting to build a lineup that can score and is hard to play against. That’s Lindy’s MO
helenius is probably ahead of him already too, savoie had zero future with buffalo and mcleod is a guy who can help us win NOW instead of two years from now
@@xxsleepymonkeyxx6570 It sounds like there's a few Sabres fans trying to comfort themselves so they can sleep better at night? 😂 The fact is that Savioe is still a top prospect that was likely the one who was sacrificed due to a fairly deep pool. Doesn't make him less of a prospect and he indeed has a bright future in the NHL ! 😎
Value wise it’s not a good trade. But Savoie had nowhere to go in the lineup, and we need to win now. McLeod will help us win now more than Savoie will. Kulich and Benson had jumped Savoie and we still have Ostlund, Rosen, Wahlberg and Helenius.
The trade addresses both team needs. Oilers need some quality prospect and cap relief. Buffalo needs NHL-ready players. McLeod is a solid player, but he isn't becoming the player the Oilers need him to be. I hate to say it but the Oilers can probably fill his role pretty easily. I suppose the main knock on McLeod is he doesn't really use his size as well as you'd hope, and he brings less offensively to the team than you might like. He's still young and that can change. Who knows if Savoie will play a big role on the Oilers, but he's sort of "cash on hand". If the Oilers want to make a trade during the season, having a solid prospect to deal is what they'll need. They can't just keep giving away draft picks.
It won't change. 3 years of trying to get the guy to change hadn't worked at all. Bejng gifted premier ice time with Drai, didn't help. His spot on the team being in jeopardy didn't help. Not knly does he not use his size as much as you would like....he doesn't use his size at all. Ever. He plays like he's 5'4 and allergic to physical contact.
@@johanstinson IMO that's a bit hard on him. In the end the Oilers marked him as defense-only, mostly to cut bait. I suspect he'll shape into a better player than he is now, but it just won't happen on the Oilers.
I look at it this way. Savoie’s value as a trade chip is a lot more valuable than McLeod’s. There’s more options to explore with Savoie. The Oilers can potentially trade him for other area of need like another top 4 RHD or just develop him. He’s close to being NHL ready, I’d say as close as this upcoming season. The Oilers last 2 first round picks are gone in order to get Ekholm, Henrique, and Carrick. They might not have next year’s first round pick since they moved up in this year’s draft to pick Sam O’Reilly.
@@johanstinsonDo you think Draisaitl used his size in the Stanley Cup finals? No! He couldn't score. You will overpay for him. Either McJesus or Draisaitl will get hurt! 😉All of of Edmonton will weep!😢
Kulich, Östlund, Helenius, Rosen and Benson. Thats is probably why was Savoie traded. Yes Savoie was great in WHL, but all these players are same age or younger and already proved that they can play in profesional league (Benson already played in NHL, Kulich and Rosen in AHL, Östlund in Sweden and Helenius in Finland top leagues). Rosen just have 50 points in 67 games and Kulich had two 20+ goals seasons in AHL. So in my opinion Savoie wasn't that high in Sabres prospects rankings and thats why he was traded. On the other hand Ryan McLeod will greatly improve Sabres third line, faceoffs and PK which all was so needed after last few seasons. He had 30 point in Edmonton where he was fifth center (atleast from what i red elsewhere). In Buffalo he is right now clear number 3 after Thompson and Cozens So if everything works well he can be 35-40 point producer. So how i see it, Sabres just trade prospect with great potential but still unproven and have before him another 4-5 prospects for guy who can help them now and cover their needs.
maybe ppl don't want to hear it, but buffalo can definitely afford to lose one of their prospects. Their Forward prospect pool is absolutely loaded and savoie i think would have trouble making his way up the lineup. Imo buf can definitely afford to lose him, but yeah it's not the best trade
It's not that they can't afford to lose him, it's why bother losing him for and 3rd and 4th liner. No disrespect to Mcleod and Tullio but they are a dime a dozen and could've been had or similar without giving up a top prospect. Just a bad trade plain and simple.
That's a terrible mindset to have though. Oilers said the same things when trading Hall and Eberle for a low return. It's just bad asset management though.
@SherLock55 every team knew the Oilers needed cap room and that McLeod was clearly the odd man out after the Henrique signing and every other player basically having no move clauses. Jackson had a gun to his head and still got a great deal.
I swear so called NHL “insiders” know everything about everything. Did you know that Savoie had plenty of time to develop and was given chances during training camp; he has a shoulder injury that keeps coming back every year. A great trade for Buffalo.
Savoie has been hurt 2x already and Sabres have 5 physical clones of him. McCloud is responsible in his own zone which the Sabres have like 2 guys that do that .
Savoie was a Grade A prospect coming out of the draft… he had a hard time even cracking the AHL lineup. He’s also been injury prone since then. The Sabres have 10 Grade A prospects. They needed bottom 6 players who can still produce and play well in their own zone.
The Sabres need players that are NHL ready now not in a year or Two when Savoie is potentially ready. Savoie has also fallen in the Sabres prospect pipeline cuz it’s simply stacked with Talent. He’s a good prospect no doubt but I genuinely think people overvalue him
Lol. I love that as soon as he's traded people are "over valuing him" and "he was passed kn the depth chart" lol. 2 things NOBODY was saying prior to the trade
If he ends up being another twig like Yamamoto who gets knocked off the puck by the slightest gust of wind then it wont look good. But if he can be a shifty skilled forward like Gaudreau then its a win.
Savoie hasn't cracked the NHL lineup yet, so there's reasons why he was traded that people don't and will never know. Could be injuries, could be something else. But the fact that we slotted Benson onto the squad almost immediately tells me Savoie simply needs more time before he's NHL ready. Sabres need guys that will make a playoff appearance a possibility and guys that can play NOW. We'll see though because I don't care for the moves Buffalo made so far, but we're not exactly a destination for the top-tier players in the league right now.
Thing is, McLeod can play on the wing, so there's a possibility he's in the top 6 in Buffalo. Mark my words, McLeod will become a fan favourite in Buffalo (unless they trade him before the end of this season).
Watched him play live for games 3 and 4 in the WHL Championship. Guy was awesome. Wish him the best in the NHL. He is definitely on the small side though
I guess their rationale may be that, they have a 3rd line Center who could also slot nicely into the first or second line if need be, and to also possibly upgrade whoever they had as the 3rd line Center
Savioe has been injured the last two seasons, was not able to be pulled up. Benson and Kulich were elevated before Savoie (both were drafted after Savoie). Buffalo has many prospects plus an already super young team. McLeod is already a proven 3rd line center who’s fast and great on defense for a forward. It was an easy decision. Buffalo just drafted Konsta Helenius who will replace Savoie as top prospect. It’s not a bad trade. Savoie was not NHL ready for a playoff run. McLeod has played 56 playoff games. Savoie will develop into a great player, his long term development is something Buffalo couldn’t wait for.
How many 1st round picks never "make it"? How many 1st round picks become permanent 3rd or 4th liners? Buffalo needed a stud 2 way 3C who can score and is tough as hell to play against. They needed to get bigger and harder, and they accomplished that. How many undersized guys with dazzling hands does a team need? There are only 6 spots on the top 2 lines, and only 1 puck to play with. Buffalo wins this trade in a landslide, even if Savoie ends up on McJesus' line and scores 40, if Buffalo makes the playoffs with McLoed at 3C, Buffalo wins this trade. You can put a cardboard cutout on McDavids wing and it will score 40.
“Buffalo needed a stud 2 way 3C who can score and is tough as hell to play against”…well, let me know when you acquire him, because it most definitely is not Ryan McLeod. I’ve watched every game of McLeod’s career and he is none of those things, especially not hard to play against. Defensively he is fine. But he is very soft.
Savoie needs to win a spot, I think he’s AHL bound. He and Tyler Benson were both Winnipeg Ice drafted by Buffalo, Benson made it at 18, Savoie couldn’t. His potential is worth a shot but I think this was a cap space inspired trade.
One thing that concerns me is this....YES MacLeod and Foegelle did not give enough secondary scoring, and yes neither one brought much physicality...BUT....THEY WERE BOTH FANTASTIC PENALTY KILLERS!!!!...In fact, on one of THE BEST PENALTY KILLS EVER!!!...(49 out of 50 in the playoffs!!!)...The down ice pressure, the shot blocking, intercepting and breaking up plays were first class...They are BOTH gone now. I hope this was not a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water...just sayin'
By all accounts in the media (was his name Brown?) Brown and Janmark were the top box play players (forwards) in edmonton, at least during the playoff, and great at that.
Savoie is a solid player...but its not just that hes small hes about the same height and weight as Marchand...but hes super injury prone. Small+injury prone=disaster
Savoie could be great, but I think Buffalo wins this trade right now. McLeod was just about the only Oiler I even noticed show up in the Cup final, especially in game 7. He's got that playoff spirit. And now that the curse of Jeff Skinner is gone, maybe Buffalo can finally bounce into the playoffs.
Jeff Skinner hates to play defensive hockey! No back checking or fore checking. He loves to watch the play! 😮 More soft and effeminate players for the Oilers! 😅
@@jimbo1468 Guess we'll find out won't we? His defensive flaws can likely be hidden on a deep Oiler team and his 35 goals two year ago and 33 the year before that shows he still has his scoring touch. We'll talk again when the Oilers win the cup next year !
Buffalo is stacked with young talent outside of Savoie. And they also have many undersized players (players under 6ft) like Savoie who all play a similar style of game like Benson and Kulich, for instance. Savoie likely was not going to able to break into the line up there so they traded him to a team that is lacking depth in exchange for centre depth and a defensive prospect. For Edmonton, they gain a great prospect and cap space. I think both teams did well here.
@@Bfrd25 Stacked talent does not always translate, especially since they draft players who play the game similarly. They need to diversify the type of players they have. Which is why getting McLeod is solid as a pick up for them.
savoie has played 1 nhl game and was a ghost the entire game. he got leap frogged by zach benson in his first year. the sabres are in a very weird "win now" situation. not win the cup but win games. savoie does not help with that. mcleod does. ill take a guy whos gunna play 82 games at an NHL caliber level rather than a guy who still needs 2-3 years if im the sabres right now.
Makes perfect sense for Buffalo. Savoie is super overrated to fans. He's an under sized middle 6 winger. Sabres needed a 3c. Savoie has been passed in the prospect pool by Benson and possibly Helenius. They don't need small skill guys. From everything I've seen from "insiders" GMs around the league aren't high on Savoie, which would mean his trade value is not great.
To shave cap on a guy that just hasn’t quite reached the level we need in a couple seasons, but also expects pay raises like he has, is the reason Edmonton won this trade. To turn an ever more expensive “almost there” guy into a 3 year entry level contract 9th overall pick is wild.
I've been a Sabres fan since 1987, this trade makes sense to me for Buffalo. If you look at players like Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, we are just cutting to the chase with Savoie. We are not allowed to have nice things here in Buffalo or make sense or make the playoffs. Fml 😢
Oh and don't forget Jeff Skinner who's going to win the Stanley cup with Edmonton. I don't think other NHL teams fans understand how abused we are here.
I do wonder if clouder could become more than a 3rd line centre, the kid is rapid and skates very well. Even so its a weird trade for sure, Savoie definitely appears to have a higher ceiling. Be interesting to see how it goes.
Trade was necessary for the Oilers. McLeod doesn’t make the top 12 this year, he got passed on the depth chart by Holloway.Needed cap space and to be honest he kind of fell off after his family issues back in January. Only 3 G, 8 assists post Jan 24. He looked ok in the postseason not great. 4 G, 0 assists and a minus 7. Also in the playoffs he got moved to the 3rd pairing PK team behind Ryan,Brown,Janmark,Henrique and RNH. The potential and Cap Space makes this an instant win for Edmonton and by a wide margin.
The real question is were there no 3rd line centres available in free agent market? Going that route they could have kept the asset (Savoie) see how he develops in the AHL for a year. If no room for him, then try to trade for high draft pick. I just don't understand this deal. It's not like Buffalo is cup competitive next year and Mcleod wouldn't be the needle mover even if they were.
Time will tell. Buffalo has a ton of promising prospects and needed the depth scoring, especially after Skinner leaving which still hasn’t been fully addressed. Like you said, Savoie is a pretty small guy and was likely to be traded anyway.
McLeod's skills and speed sound good on paper but in practice, playing on a team and playing under pressure, he is a different story. His skills are limited by his limited hockey IQ. He was either invisible or caused game-tilting errors during the playoffs, he was a liability and a weak link for the team. He had many chances to improve and learn from his mistakes but did not show up when it counted, it was the right decision to move him to another team. Just didn't mesh with the Oilers. If McDavid and Draisaitl can't improve your game its time to call a spade a spade... what you see is what you get with McLeod.
The entire Oilers organization just sucks at resigning players. They could have had a franchise goaltender rise through the ranks out the Condors didn’t resign him and now he went to the Crunch and the Lightning organization. So dumb
He was expendable in Buffalo's system. You already have Peterka, Quinn, and Benson in the NHL. Then you have Kulich, Rosen, Rousek, Ostlund, and now Helenius in minors. How many skilled forwards around 5'10 do you want on your team? Savoie has injury history and really needs to gain a lot of muscle, outside of being the shortest of the bunch. He's still a year or more out as he needs time in the AHL. There's also been word going around that NHL GMs don't rate Savoie as high as fans do. Which adds up because it was known Buffalo was shopping their 11th overall pretty hard, you have to think Savoie was part of any package Kevyn was offering. This trade addresses one of Buffalo's current biggest needs in a 3rd line center, which totally revamps the bottom 6. Something that was a top priority for the team.
There's been no word going around like rhat. Those are just rumors that Sabers fans have dreamed up to make this trade seem better. Just stop it. Nobody is saying that Buffalo can't afford to trade for help. But trading Savoie for a bum like McLeod is beyond moronic and a horrible return. There's literally free agents right now that can do what McLeod does and you wouldn't need to trade a top prospect go get them. Also, just stop with this trash narrative that 20 other llayers passed him on the depth chart. Not one of you was saying this before the trade, it's pure cope
@@johanstinsonthere’s been real concerns about savoie going back to last December when he didn’t even get invited to world juniors camp in 2022. NHL GM’s valued the 14th overall pick, Kulich, Ostlund and even Wahlberg more than savoie.
A recent top 10 pick that has 2ppg in the WHL should never be expendable. You protect your assets, doesn’t matter how many of them you have. Any club that has this mindset will never succeed. Proof is in the pudding for Buffalo unfortunately.
@@aarondavies6823 who’s savoie playing over in Buffalo? He’s not a center he’s not going to be better than Tuch or Quinn. A top ten pick being over 2.0 on the best team in the WHL in his D+2 should be expected. His playoff numbers declined as well as being bad in the world juniors he’s a future middle six winger it was a bad pick by the Sabres.
Savoie was jumped by a few prospects in the Sabres system. The way he plays won’t translate to the nhl. The game is more than points when you watch developing players.
I laugh when everyone is wtf is Buffalo doing. Did you watch the playoffs. The Oilers PK was lights out. They didn't allow a pp goal for 2 series or something like that. McLeod was a big part of the PK, and he addresses a big need for Buffalo. The problem is that Buffalo drafted too many small offensive forwards. Ruff probably told them to get me someone who can help the team right now, and having somebody like McLeod can help any team win games. He's really fast, can check and chip in here and there. The Oilers just traded away a player who fit the organization perfectly. I don't like the trade at all for the Oilers. They're trying to win a cup. You know what teams don't say when they're on cup runs, "Get me more small forwards."
When you pay attention to Buffalo and their system... this trade is easy. If you don't (and I know as a Sabres fan.. I don't follow other teams systems that closely.), you wouldn't know that Matt was buried on a prospect depth chart. Benson last year stepped in front, Helenius appears he may have as well and Kulich too (not even mentioning Ostland and Rosen yet and where the brass have them listed). Is it better for a prospect to rot in the AHL or move him for someone that fills a need you have right now? I hope Matt turns out to be the player everyone believes he will be. I like him as a player and was sad to see him moved, but at some point we need role players more than skilled scorers.. last year, the team pushed a more defensive mindset and that hurt our scoring (injuries sure didn't help either). This year, it appears Adams is look for balance. I hope this trade goes down as good for both sides. Time will always tell.
Revved up about a 5’9 player in todays NHL is laughable. He played 3 minutes last year in his only game. There’s a huge diff between Jr and the NHL. Jrs have lots of little guys. The NHL is full of big guys! A DMan the size of Zadorof will squash him. 6-6 and 250. Sorry Oilers fans but I don’t see an upside to this one.
Savoie “might “ turn into a future star, might. Is former linemate and 18 yr old already cracked the NHL lineup, Benson. The Sabres team has a very deep prospect pool and had No room for Savoie no. Ryan Macleod with his size and speed will start as our third line center. Even with this 25 yr old we are the youngest team in the NHL. This trade might look lopsided in 4 yrs but it’s what the Sabres need NOW to break the drought. Savoie will never do squat in the next four yrs in Edmonton, he’ll never see PP time, doesn’t play PK and more than like.y standing at 5’-9” will get hurt again. Look the Sabres couldn’t make the playoffs again and he couldn’t crack their line up but an 18 yr Benson did? Hhhm. Heck we didn’t even send him to the Amerks, Sabres send him back to juniors. This was one of Kevin Adams best moves. JJ Peterka will be a stud way before Savoie is. Our first rounder from this yr was signed will be a stud before Savoie is.
Calling McLeod a 'great' 3rd line center is a stretch. He has one strength and that's his speed carrying the puck - he can back defenses off. Outside of that, he's good defensively, but is not good offensively, shies away from contact, and does not go to the 'hard areas'. I'd say he's a great 4th line center, but makes too much money for that role.
As others have noted, the Sabres GM is named Kevyn Adams not Kevin Anderson. I’m just going to copy-paste what I wrote on a THG video about this trade: “Sabres fan vomiting my thoughts out real quick: Do I wish we could have gotten a greater return for Savoie? Yes. Do I want to Adams to trade for a top 6 winger or a RD? Yes. Am I still under the delusion that we could have signed either of the players in free agency? Kinda. In a way, it's a good thing we didn't massively overpay a top-6 or RD to come here, because Benson is going to need his big boy contract in due time, and I'd rather the team not get stuck with another Skinner contract. Overall, I feel much better about the state of the team now than I did a few weeks ago. I think with these new additions and with Lindy Ruff behind the bench, the team can absolutely get over the hump, though I would not be surprised if we miss the playoffs with like 93 points because the Atlantic division is OP. In-short, I'm optimistic about the future of the team, perhaps to my own peril, but l refuse to be as negative as so many of the Buffalo fan base. The Sabres is not the middling franchise that they were before Adams took over.”
Savioe was listed as the Sabres 4th best prospect forward. I think they are okay. Peterka Quinn Benson and Kulich are all considered to have a higher ceiling than Savoie. I don't see a winner or loser here at all. Having a point per game in the OHL at 20 isn't that serious.
It’s this year’s cap situation and going forward. They can’t keep him cause his next contract after the upcoming season he will have arbitration. It’s as good of a time to trade him while his cap hit matches his on-ice play. I think he gets anywhere from 3M-4.5M in arbitration. This is where he makes too much for what he offers on the ice. Also, Drai and Bouchard needs a raise.
A smart GM would have bled the Oilers knowing they were well over the CAP and had to make trades. The fact that the Oilers got a top prospect should have never happened, a player to be named later might have done it.
Finally a gm that gets off his butt and does something in EDM. Savoie should give them some much needed youthful energy in the forward core. Keep Foegle
The Oilers sold a bit of their team defender here Also to me this looks like a Draisaitl insurance Of course he wants to resign but the Organisation won't pay their asses off, they know the cap would kill them at some time
mcleod provides nhl offense at 10% above league average placing his offensive production potential to that of above an average 1st line player, he's one of the fastest players in the league and I think he was underutilized with poor offensive talent on his wings when he was playing center. Given a better opportunity and some talent I think mcleod could really surprise a lot of people in buf
His numbers got inflated by the time he spent on Draisaitl's wing same as Foegele who had a career high but most of that came when him and Mcleod played with Draisaitl. Don't get me wrong he's a great 3C and one of the most underrated Dzone and translation players but he just doesn't push play to the net enough. He has the hands, size and speed to do it he just doesn't most of the time. Also idk why you'd think he'd get better linemates on a bottom feeder team.
@@onjah56 For forwards there's really not. And your staking the claim he %10 above average, which isn't showing up on any metric. If anything hes like %15-%20 below average. All that while on the team that created the 4th most goals in the nhl. I just don't think he has much more offensive production potential. Again at best I think hes a middle 6 guy, but he'll almost certainly NEVER be a first liner, not on a good hockey team.
McLeod’s not a first line player. He doesn’t possess the finishing ability like most top six options would provide. No hands, doesn’t drive the net, and mostly perimeter play. Basically the same traits he carried over from junior. Buffalo is counting on him to be the 3C and PK. If you’re looking for production from him, he’s not that player.
@@davidfrancisco9224 yeah, there are sometimes, like that last two weeks of the 2022-23 season where it’s been really easy. But there’s also times like when we win 10 in a row then go on a huge skid and don’t make the playoffs, that makes it harder to stay loyal
I’m not saying it isn’t til it’s in edmontons favor, but I am saying that my fan bias aside, as someone who has watched around 75% of the piers games the last 3 years I promise you of the sabers are able to keep helping McLeod grow he can be a very capable 2way middle 6 center/linger. Something I think can easily be missed without watching him often is that he is much more of a support player than people make him out to be. If you want him to focus on producing offensively he has shown that he can do that given time with higher skilled linemates, most effective as a playmaking winger. If you need more defensive help from the forwards he does well in the 3C role with other defensive leaning players.
He doesn't produce any offense. He was gifted 80% of his points last year from laying with Drai. And even then he could barely do it to a reasonable level
People really need to stop calling McLeod a really good 3C... he's a 4c at best but should probably be a winger. McLeods size also doesn't matter at all, he absolutely does not use it
