Joe Sakic: 'Our intention is to have (O'Reilly) a Colorado Avalanche for a long time'
In the midst of another potentially contentious contract negotiation between the Colorado Avalanche and Ryan O'Reilly, team president Jos Sakic affirmed the organization's desire to keep the talented, two-way center in the mix for the foreseeable future.
Easier said than done however.
O'Reilly, a soon-to-be restricted free agent, is coming off a backloaded two-year deal that saw him earn $6.5-million in 2013-14, a valuation that Colorado doesn't see as a viable starting point in terms of negotiating.
Sakic: "His agent, Pat, seems to think he signed a one-year, $6.5 million deal and forgot about the $3.5 million first year" - boom
— Adrian Dater (@adater) June 19, 2014
Sakic added "We just have a different point of view on where the starting point is", signaling the fact that keeping O'Reilly around long-term may be a difficult process, no matter how good management's intentions may be.