Adrian Dater of the Denver Post points out that the holdout over the O’Reilly contract dispute has left a sour taste in the Avalanche management’s mouth.  But because they had to match an offer sheet, the team cannot trade the disgruntled forward for at least a year. In order to try and get his trade value up, he’d need more ice-time to produce more points.  That’s where the demotion of Stastny would come in.

Dater then goes on to say that trading Stastny now would make more sense for the club, capitalizing on the market that would provide a decent return for the 27-year old.  The downside to holding on to him is that the Avs demote him to the third line and he continues his offensive decline for the third year from when he put up 79 during the 2009-10 campaign.   Thus jeopardizing his trade value following this season or into early next year.

So far on the year Stastny has 6 goals and 7 assists in 22 games while producing a minus-4.  He does have a large cap hit with a salary of $6.6 million for next season, after which he’d be an unrestricted free agent.  Here in lies the trouble that the Avs could face.  Not many teams will be willing to take on that kind of salary for a player that may be in an offensive decline.  The upside is that his asking price will likely be lower than Corey Perry‘s or say Phil Kessel‘s, should the Leafs look at moving him.

Still within the prime year’s of his career, Stastny could benefit from a change of scenery and given the right line mates  who’s to say he couldn’t become a point a game player again.  Making this trade one that might be worth looking at for some clubs that need an upgrade at the centre position.

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According to TSN.ca, O’Reilly will make $1 million in base salary for this season with a $2.5 million signing bonus. Next season his salary will jump to $6.5 million and thus triggering a new level for his next salary in two years.  TSN reports that O’Reilly’s next qualifying offer must be for at least the $6.5 million that he’ll make next year and to further complicate matters, the Avs cannot trade the disgruntled forward for at least one year.  Speculation as to if they will move him after that time lapse has already commenced.

The Flames did their best to try and acquire the talents of O’Reilly who would bolster their number one line with a legitimate top center to play along side Jarome Iginla.  Calgary GM, Jay Feaster admits that the tried to trade for O’Reilly before signing him to the offer sheet, courtesy of TSN.ca.

“While we attempted to acquire him via trade, we felt the asking price was too steep and would negatively impact our future. As such, we decided to tender an offer sheer and were very pleased to have the player accept our offer.”

The Avalance would have received the Flames’ first and third round picks in this year’s NHL Entry Draft had they chosen not to match the offer and given how quickly they reacted, it’s clear they had no intention of losing O’Reilly to an offer sheet or trading him away.

But Adrian Dater of the Denver Post wonders if this is just the beginning of the Ryan O’Reilly versus the Colorado Avalanche saga.  Dater examines the Avs payroll for next season and points out that the $6.5 million that O’Reilly will make will handcuff the club when it comes to going after free agents that could impact the team.

According to Dater, the Avalanche now have $58 million committed for next season with this signing and with the league reducing the salary cap from $70.2 million to $64.3, it could prove difficult to get creative to try and add key pieces to their roster, barring a trade.

What the Flames also did was set the expectations for the future free-agents that the Avs will have to try and resign after next season, namely Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny and Gabriel Landeskog.  Dater states that Avalanche management allowed Calgary to set the market for O’Reilly and thus will be forced to hand out hefty pay checks to the aforementioned three young stars or risk losing them entirely.  Not a bad play by Feaster and the Flames against a divisional opponent who could be a major thorn in Calgary’s future.

Were you surprised by the Flames offer sheet?  Leave us your comments and let us know how you feel about the Ryan O’Reilly situation.

Adrian Dater of the Denver Post reports via Twitter that the talks between the O’Reilly camp and the Avs have broken off and there is nothing new to report.

“Nothing new at all” on O’Reilly, says agent Mark Guy. Ergo, talks have broken off for now

— adater (@adater) February 4, 2013

O’Reilly wants a multi-year deal that will pay him around $5 million annually while the Avs are offering in the range of $2.5 million for two years.  It’s being deemed a “gap” type contract that will make O’Reilly earn his next substantial raise in what would be two years.  It’s also a way for the Avs to protect themselves by ensuring O’Reilly is worth the type of money he may garner in two years, should he continue to produce offensively the way he has through his first three seasons in the NHL.

Last season the 21-year old led the Avalanche in scoring with 18 goals and 55 points and has accumulated 107 career points in 236 games.

O’Reilly is using contracts that Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars recently got along with John Tavares of the New York Islanders, Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes and Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a measuring stick.

Meanwhile Avalanche management appear to be in no rush to sign O’Reilly and have shot down recent talk about possibly trading the former 2nd round draft pick.  Meaning this contract dispute could go on for a while, further mounting pressure on both sides.

If the Avs continue to win without him, O’Reilly will want to get back on the ice and be a part of it.  If the club struggles, O’Reilly could be in the drivers seat and get closer to what he’s asking for.

The Avs recently placed captain Gabriel Landeskog on the injured reserve and previously lost Steve Downie for the entire season to injury,.