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.