Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O’Reilly is without a doubt, one of the most interesting names on this year’s trade market and with the Senators openly searching for a top six forward, it makes some sense that his name might be linked to Ottawa again this summer.
Those of you that have followed the site for the last couple years will know that O’Reilly’s name has come up on multiple occasions. At the trade deadline two seasons ago, the Senators held what were apparently serious discussions at the time. The two sides talked about it again the following summer.
At this point though, I’ve been told that the Senators are not seriously pursuing O’Reilly. And it’s pretty easy to see why.With his next contract expected to be long term and in the neighbourhood of $6 million or more a season, the Senators really don’t have room.
They would certainly need to move multiple excess contracts (Greening, Legwand, Cowen) before they could even begin to consider O’Reilly as an option. The Senators also have Turris and Zibanejad locked into at centre on the top two lines. Teams can also use more depth at centre but right now, it’s a luxury the Senators can’t really afford.
With that said, adding a guy like O’Reilly would might make the Senators a good bet to contend in the East and there is no shortage of sites where you could place such a bet.
O’Reilly is entering the final year of a contract that will see him earn $6 million this season. O’Reilly and the Avalanche are hoping to make some progress on a contract extension in the next couple weeks but if they don’t make progress in those talks, Avalanche General Manager Joe Sakic is expected to shop O’Reilly around the league. And there will be plenty of interest. Although to this point, the Avs are still talking like they’d like to get a deal done.
Avs GM Joe Sakic said he’s had talks with Ryan O’Reilly’s agents at Newport. Hopes to get a deal done before the season…
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 18, 2015
He’s the type of forward that every team could use. A consistent point producer that plays a responsible game in his own end of the rink. And at 24 years of age, his best years are probably still ahead of him.
As much as the Senators would love to add Ryan O’Reilly, it’s safe to say he’s not a legitimate option for Bryan Murray and his staff this off season. Unless of course they can move significant money out the door first.
-The off season really ramps up this week with the NHL Awards on Wednesday night in Las Vegas followed by the Entry Draft on Friday in Florida. There’s going to be a ton of talk around the Senators as they work on new contracts for a couple key restricted free agents and prepare to make the difficult decision on what to do with that extra goalie. Should be a fun week.
-It’s not necessarily something that’s at the top of their To Do list but the Senators are certainly trying to move a body out on defence heading into next season. Patrick Wiercioch almost moved at last year’s deadline but he found his way into Management’s good books down the stretch. The same can’t be said for Jared Cowen but that wouldn’t be an easy contract to move. One name that has come up quite a bit is Eric Gryba. Not going to be a huge return obviously but there’s definitely interest.
-Moving out a couple bad contracts remains a priority for the Senators. One of them will go in the goalie trade. Murray pretty much guaranteed as much during a recent interview with Ian Mendes. At the same time, I’ve heard rumours that the Senators might be able to move David Legwand’s contract in a separate deal. Moving out a couple bodies would be huge for this team’s salary situation going forward.
