Taking a look at how the Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres could help each other out in this shortened season, shortly after longtime coach Lindy Ruff is fired in Buffalo.

As both Cam Charron and Ryan Lambert said on Puck Daddy two weeks ago, why the hell haven’t the Avalanche taken care of Ryan O’Reilly yet? Charron points out it wouldn’t be too hard for another team to offer sheet the center, especially while Avalanche management keep assuming no other team has the cajones to do such a thing. And Lambert speculated that what happens here – trade, sign, see him leave via offer sheet or continue to wait it out – would probably mean the end of GM Greg Sherman’s time in Colorado. Especially if that final option means no O’Reilly centering Steve Downie and Gabriel Landeskog, something they are surely missing this season. A week later and there is still no resolution to this, although both Darren Dreger of TSN and Adrian Dater of the Denver Post have said that the Avs are now shopping O’Reilly around. Dater goes as far as asking the question, “Do the Avs have a major problem with the way they do business with their players now?” Of course the answer is yes, Dater counts 5 recent players that have flourished after being low-balled by Sherman, but there is an easy way to fix the O’Reilly situation and the fact that defenseman Erik Johnson is now out indefinitely with a head injury – call up the Buffalo Sabres.

It’s a little bit of a difficult time in Buffalo right now. In just a few days, it’ll be the two year anniversary since Terry Pegula took over the team. And that’s when he made the famous statement, “the Buffalo Sabres’ reason for existence will be to win a Stanley Cup.” How’s that going for them? Last season, Pegula’s first whole one as owner, the team disappointingly finished outside of the playoffs after a late spring rush. This season looks no better, with only 13 points through 17 games for the team as they sit ahead of the equally disappointing Capitals and Panthers, and the Islanders. Granted they are only 4 points out of a playoff spot, but early play from goaltender Ryan Miller has looked abysmal at times, and everyone not named Thomas Vanek has had problems scoring for the team – Vanek has been involved in roughly 2/3rds of all of the Sabres points thus far. And big-time defenseman Tyler Myers was a healthy scratch against the New York Islanders the other day, sitting at -9, with head coach Lindy Ruff saying he’s been “trying to get his head in the right place.” Even though GM Darcy Regier made the announcement today that Ruff was being let go after 15 years as head coach, the Sabres existence doesn’t look to be filled with Cups anytime soon. Big splash additions of Cody Hodgson at center and Steve Ott for physical play (sorry Buffalo fans, John Scott is not a big addition to any team) haven’t been working out just yet – Alexander Sulzer is probably the better pickup from last year’s trade deadline move with the Canucks – especially after last Tuesday’s manhandling via the Senators, and the abysmal play Monday against the Jets. Meanwhile, the team is sitting on defensive prospects, with both Adam Pardy and Brayden McNabb sitting down in the AHL. Reiger is (rightfully) afraid that McNabb would be snatched up on waivers, while Pardy has only appeared on injury relief.

So the Avalanche have a number one center that gets to the dirty parts in both zones they don’t want to pay, and a defense that is suffering from injuries. And the Sabres have nothing to show for their newfound existence, with defensemen piled up on Lake Ontario waiting for a chance at the big club. Seems like these two teams could stand to do some talking…

Would O’Reilly solve the Sabres problems? Scoring would probably improve, as would the defensive play of nearly everyone. Remember that tidbit about Vanek having 25 points so far this season? That’s only through 16 games, yet he’s still only sitting at a +3. ONLY PLUS THREE! Maybe the league’s point leader would benefit from having a center next to him that wouldn’t look lost in his own zone. Or maybe he’d benefit from having a center that could play with him both on the top line, and on the powerplay – so not Cody Hodgson, who Lindy took a habit of switching positions. In bringing in Ott, Buffalo was looking to have a dominant center. This year he’s a 53.6% on the faceoff, which is a slight regression from past years. Overall, the team is sitting at a league worst 44.6% – something that has to improve if they want to take a run at the playoffs alone this season, it is pretty hard to win games when you don’t have the puck. The Sabres defensemen and goaltender Ryan Miller have looked awful most of the season, but some improved depth at the center spot, you know so they could actually win a faceoff this season, might help them out a ton.

Hopefully we are all in agreement that the Avalanche would be better off keeping O’Reilly in the short and long term, but if they were set on not paying him the money he’s deserved – read the Lambert and Dater articles again for an accurate take on what Sherman might be thinking – then dealing him for some defensemen wouldn’t be a bad option. Who else besides Johnson do they have up in Denver that could help Semyon Varlamov out a bit? Dreger says the Avs want a roster player and a top prospect. That fits into their rumored look at the New York Rangers, asking for Michael Del Zotto and either Chris Kreider (who has been struggling this season) or J.T. Miller (some early success), but were promptly laughed away by the Rangers. What about a 2 for 1? Deal for McNabb to get a roster spot defenseman, and maybe add in Corey Tropp-esque player for an offensive prospect (Tropp has bounced around a bit, mostly sticking down in Rochester).

If Buffalo really values O’Reilly, and you know winning now while Miller can still carry the team every now and then and maybe wanting to make a splash after firing Ruff, then maybe adding Zemgus Girgensons into the deal wouldn’t be a poor choice. For a very Cup-hungry fan base ever since Pegula took over, what good is a Cup 5-6 years down the line when they’ve wanted one delivered every June the past two years? Continuing to not win one, or worse not make the playoffs, would only aggravate the fan base further. As mentioned for Colorado, this could be the end of Greg Sherman unless the team makes some strides towards improvement this season anyway. Shoring up his defense and adding another cheap, productive forward to the mix would sure help his case. Losing O’Reilly should not be what the Avalanche want. But dealing a player that doesn’t want to play by your contract terms for two cheaper younger guys wouldn’t be a bad move, and could save his job.

Without a move soon, both teams could be looking around asking questions yet again after this shortened season. Many in Buffalo thought Ruff would be a sure thing behind the bench for the rest of the season, but that blew up today. More change wouldn’t be a bad thing for the Sabres.