Ryan O'Reilly agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the Avalanche on Wednesday to avoid arbitration, Darren Dreger of TSN reports.

O'Reilly agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the Avalanche on Wednesday to avoid arbitration, Darren Dreger of TSN reports.

Analysis:

The Avs and O'Reilly had been far apart on a new deal in recent weeks, but with the prospect of an arbitration hearing closing in, both sides were motivated to strike a quick deal. Still, O'Reilly has been angling for a long-term deal with the Avs for quite some time, to no avail, so he could be motivated to join another organization when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016.