Ryan O’Reilly has been at the center of trade discussions for a while, including a reunion with the team that drafted him, the Colorado Avalanche. O’Reilly, who will turn 35 in February, was with the Avs for the first six years of his NHL career (2009-14), and played 427 games with the franchise. He accumulated 90 goals and 156 assists in that time.
When his time was nearing an end with the franchise, he reportedly wanted somewhere around $8 million AAV, which the Avalanche were not willing to hand him. With that, O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn were traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher, Mikhail Grigorenko, and the Sabres’ second-round pick.
The Avalanche are 27-2-7 in their first 36 games this year, which is the best in the league right now. They are on pace for 323 goals, with Nathan MacKinnon leading the charge at 30 goals, the next closest player being Martin Necas at 16.
Colorado has allowed just 80 goals this season, which is the best in the league.
They are on fire. Even when they win a game 1-0, like they did against the Utah Mammoth on December 23, a huge takeaway is that they were able to limit the Mammoth’s chances and kept things even with their opponent.
A reason the Avalanche could look to a trade for their former player is that he has some power play experience, with 98 power play goals throughout his career. There is no guarantee that O’Reilly would fit well enough on either of the Avs’ power play units. Rumours are spreading that the Avs, or any other team wanting O’Reilly’s services, would need to fork over some significant piece(s) in order to acquire him.
That isn’t what I would do at this point, as the Avs are clearly the best in the league. Disrupting their chemistry isn’t necessary right now, no matter how painful it is to witness their terrible power play. We just have to let it play out, and hopefully, succeed at a later time. Patience is key.
O’Reilly has a $4.5 million cap hit, so the Avalanche would need to trade someone with at least that number, or multiple players whose contracts add up to $4.5 million. If it were a straight-up trade, player for player, Ross Colton and Josh Manson make the most sense (if were are strictly talking contractual).
I also do not see the Avalanche willing to fork over so much to help a division rival. That would just make no sense. The best thing for the Avalanche is to let the Predators trade O’Reilly out of division.
That being said, I highly doubt that the Avalanche are going to do anything here. There’s really no reason to.