McKenzie: Notion Avalanche may trade O'Reilly "very much a reality"
/Bob McKenzie was on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 on Monday morning.
On if there is anything to the Ryan O’Reill y to the Leafs trade rumors, other than wishful thinking:
“Well, the Colorado Avalanche, I believe – they’re not auctioning Ryan O’Reilly. They’re not shopping him league-wide. But I do believe the Avalanche are going to be targeting some specific teams, and Toronto is rumored to be one of them. I don’t have intimate knowledge that there's been dialog. But Buffalo would be another obvious one with Tyler Myers as a possible return.
“Here’s the situation with O’Reilly. He’s likely be to traded at some point. More likely than not to be traded at some point. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be before the deadline. It could very well be in the summer.
“What’s also complicating things in all of this is he’s a year and a half away from unrestricted free agency. He’s going to be 25 years old, and he’s going to be a UFA – the youngest a player could possibly be for unrestricted free agency. The youngest a legitimate, bonafide NHLer could be. Comes into the league as an 18-year-old, puts in seven years service, hits 25, and he’s unrestricted.
“So he’s a guy that’s making $6.2 million next season, with a $6 million cap hit, and he’s going to market eventually. And see, I don’t think Colorado can afford – they’re got an internal budget that – I don’t think they can afford to take Ryan O’Reilly out of unrestricted free agency. So unlike Paul Stastny, who had to walk from Colorado because of an internal budget that they weren’t prepared to go over, I can’t see Colorado letting O’Reilly walk for nothing like Stastny did.
“So when do they trade him? Do they trade him between now and the deadline? I think they'll gauge the interest and see what the offers are. I think they'll look where they are in the standings. I think there are so many variables on this that it could go a lot of different ways.
“But the notion that Ryan O’Reilly may get traded by the Colorado Avalanche at some point between now and a year this March, is very much a reality I'd say.”
Source: TSN 1260/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
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