Look, I get that when it comes to movies, everyone loves a sequel. I mean, I certainly don't and they almost always suck horribly, but the people who make them claim to love them because they think they are guaranteed money. I think they're just too lazy to come up with new ideas.
When it comes to sports there's no money to be made on the sequal, and the success rate is even worse than at the movies.
Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Tony Fernandez, Wendel Clark again, Tony Fernandez again, Cito Gaston, Curtis Joseph, Yannick Pereault etc. all have one thing in common: when they returned to the city that made them a star, they failed to revive their glory.
When it comes to this year's Leafs, I think you'd have to be doped up on goofballs in order to think that bringing back Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Schenn is a good idea.
Ryan O'Rielly Is As Dumb of an Idea as Luke Schenn
I mean, seriously, didn't this team just get mercilessly mocked for "running it back" and people want to add two more former players to the run-back? Did I miss something?
We know that hockey players in their 30s decline rapidly, right? We know that two guys who were old and already in decline two years ago will have further declined, right? Are people just out of ideas? Aren't they at all embarrassed by this?
The Leafs do need a centre, and ROR is an upgrade over what they have. He also has 3 years left on a contract that has a $4.5 million cap-hit that takes him to age 37, and the cost to acquire him will be large. Few people actually speak their minds, so let me be clear and euphemism free: Trading for Ryan O'Reilly is idiotic.
The age, the cap hit, the opportunity cost, the fact that Nashville is losing 34-22 so far this year when he plays should be enough to make you want to pass on this player, but in case you're still on the fence, try this on for size:
Ryan O'Reilly is scoring at a rate of 1.21 Points per 60. For reference, Max Domi - who has three goals and is in the process of ruining his career - is scoring at a rate of 1.52. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
Also, people are upset that Oliver Ekman-Larsson isn't scoring more for the Leafs and he has more points per 60 than ROR does. O'Reilly's scoring comes on the power-play where he is on the first unit in Nashville. In Toronto he'd likely get limited minutes on the second unit, if that.
As for Luke Schenn, I've written repeatedly how bad and lazy that idea is. The Leafs need an offensive puck mover, they don't need another slow, plodding checker. Luke Scheen wouldn't improve the Leafs, and since they'd likely use him in the top-four, he'd actually make them worse.
Ryan O'Reilly doesn't solve the Leafs scoring problems - he scores about as often as Nick Robertson!
Luke Schenn doesn't solve any problems either. Both players are nothing more than the fantasies of people who don't know any better or are too lazy to do the research. Sequals are lazy. The team known for running it back can't re-do the trade deadline (THAT FAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from two years ago.