Eurolanche

O´Byrne to Toronto for 4th round pick

Defenseman Ryan O´Byrne is not anymore a member of the Colorado Avalanche organization. The management traded him for the draft pick in the 4^th round of 2014 to Toronto Maple Leafs. As it was in Montreal at the end of his career there, O´Byrne had started to get slow his play and was scratched for few times in Colorado. Canadiens traded him for a prospect, Avalanche got a pick.

O´Byrne joined the team from Denver during the first games of 2010/11 regular season. The Avs acquired him from Montreal Canadies for the prospect Michael Bournival. O´Byrne recorded the highest ice-time in the career in the first game for his new employer.

Ryan showed great skills in his first and second seasons in Denver. He could play hard thanks to his physical proportions and was a solid example of the defensive defenseman. He looked like one of the best acquisitions of last years. During the lockout, he had been a coach in the BCHL for a while and then played 16 games (11 points) in the ECHL for Florida Everblades. After the end of the lockout, O´Byrne´s career fell down what caused his departure from the organization.

Sum up, O´Byrne played in 172 games for the Avalanche, recorded 2 goals and 19 assists. He had not played a game in the playoffs as the team did not clinch the spot during his three year in a town. After this trade, Tyson Barrie is alone Avs defenseman who scored a goal in the season – he did it twice.

Center Bournival finished his 4-year junior career and joined the AHL affiliate of Canadiens at the start of this season. Average, he had a point per game in the juniors. Currently, he has appeared in 60 games and got 25 points in the AHL. Colorado drafted him in 2010 of 71^st place.

Eurolanche´s analysis: Good move by the management. O´Byrne would become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. The team would loss him for nothing. I doubt there were plans to re-sign him – he has really bad season and there are more guys at the blue line than we really need. But there are still leaving some other guys who could go too soon. Management could not probably ask for more for O´Byrne. Maybe for some kind of prospect with big question mark. But the draft pick is good. You never know who it will be. Do not forget, O´Byrne´s was not alone Avs player who deserved this today.