Ryan O’Reilly will seek $6.75 million on his next contract with the Avalanche, a $250,000 raise from what he earned this past season. The Avalanche hopes to pay him $5.525 million.
Monday morning, O’Reilly and the Avs filed paperwork for their pending arbitration case, to be held Wednesday in Toronto. Two NHL sources confirmed the numbers both sides are asking.
Under rules of arbitration, O’Reilly had the option of accepting a one- or two-year contract from the arbitrator; he chose the one-year option. Both sides have to submit their desired salary outcome, and O’Reilly is asking for $6.75 million, which would make him the highest-paid player on the Avs.
The Avs are seeking the minimum amount they have to pay under rules of arbitration — $5.525 million, or 85 percent of his last base salary of $6.5 million.
Because the Avs chose the arbitration, they cannot do so again next summer when the one-year deal is up. But O’Reilly could file for arbitration — if he is still with the club then.
By choosing the one-year option, O’Reilly’s camp probably is banking on the arbitrator splitting the difference between the two sides. If the arbitrator awards a $6 million contract, that would mean the Avs would have to give him a qualifying offer of that much next season to retain his rights. He could either sign that one-year qualifying offer next year or reject it and hold out for more — which is what he did before the 2012-13 season, which led to a protracted standoff that ended when the Calgary Flames gave him a two-year, $10 million offer sheet that the Avs chose to match. The offer sheet had a $6.5 million salary in the second year, but his salary cap hit was $5 million. The Avs and O’Reilly have differed on what the starting point for negotiations toward a long-term deal should be — the Avs preferring a $5 million salary and O’Reilly’s camp preferring $6.5 million.
O’Reilly, 23, can be an unrestricted free agent after two more seasons. By choosing the one-year option, O’Reilly might have made it harder for the Avs to get a good return in a trade for him, if that’s what they’re thinking. A club probably would be willing to give up more knowing it would get at least two years of O’Reilly’s services instead of one, when his next contract is due.
Adrian Dater: adater@denverpost.com or twitter.com/adater
