Ryan O'Reilly was about the only Avs' player to challenge Devan Dubnyk on Tuesday, recording five shots on goal in Colorado's 4-0 loss to Edmonton. O'Reilly has been a welcome addition to Colorado's offense. He's produced two goals and two assists in his six games back from his contract holdout. Definitely consider picking him up if he's available in your league, as he should continue providing offense once he gets even more game action.

Ryan O'Reilly has helped out on the power play since his return five games ago. O'Reilly is playing the point on the first power play as the Avalanche are going with five forwards including Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, P.A. Parenteau and Paul Stastny. The quintet have been on the ice for all three goals with the man-advantage that Colorado has scored in that span with O'Reilly's shot from the point really helping. He leads the team in TOI on the pp since his return as he has averaged 2:43 minutes per game. He is worth picking up in all pools at this time.

Avalanche forward Ryan O'Reilly scored his first goal of the season in Friday's 6-2 win over the Blackhawks. It was easily the best game O'Reilly has played since returning to the Colorado lineup, as he also picked up an assist and registered nine shots on goal. His fantasy upside in rotisserie formats is still limited by his lack of penalty minutes, but with three points in four contests it's clear he intends to prove he can surpass the pace he played at during the 2011-12 season.

Ryan O'Reilly got his first point of the season on Wednesday. O'Reilly was held off the scoresheet in his first two contests. We don't anticipate him having too much fantasy value in what's left of the shortened season, but he's an interesting sleeper candidate for 2013-14.

Ryan O'Reilly said he felt "much better" after playing roughly 18 minutes in his second game back with the Colorado Avalanche. O'Reilly played a little over two minutes more than in his season debut Sunday and admitted after the game that he's getting close to his old form. Coach Joe Sacco agreed that O'Reilly is starting to show signs. "I thought it was a step in the right direction, no question. I think he has more to give, and he will," Sacco said. O'Reilly has been skating on the third line, which heavily negates his value. However, if he moves up to playing top six minutes, O'Reilly is definitely worth owning in most formats.

Ryan O'Reilly will play against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. It will be his first game since holding out as a restricted free agent and then signing an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames. As a fun side note, it's reportedly possible that the Calgary Flames would have been forced to expose O'Reilly to waivers if Colorado allowed him to leave via the offer sheet. Had that happened, O'Reilly might have ended up as a member of the Blue Jackets. It's also worth noting that O'Reilly is projected to play on the third line based on Saturday's practice, so temper your expectations.

Ryan O'Reilly skated on the Colorado Avalanche's third line during Saturday's practice. O'Reilly's linemates were John Mitchell and Milan Hejduk. It will be interesting to see if Colorado is just easing him into the lineup or if they actually see him as a third liner. Given that he'll make $6.5 million in 2013-14, it's almost certainly the prior, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll move up to one of the top two lines in the near future. After all, he has missed almost half the season.

Ryan O'Reilly said getting his current contract made it "worth it to wait this long." O'Reilly will receive a $2.5 million signing bonus and $1 million in base salary for 2013. He will then earn $6.5 million in 2013-14 before once again becoming a restricted free agent. "It was a big number," O'Reilly said. "I didn't really expect that. But it's great." It's interesting that he didn't really expect that, because reports throughout this process suggest that he ended up with basically what he was holding out for. Regardless, next season will be vital for him. He fought for this contract on the basis that his 55-point 2011-12 campaign was more of a starting point than a fluke. If he expects to land another big contract after this one, then he can't afford to regress. All the same, in the short term, that might be what happened, especially seeing as he's joining players in mid-season form when he hasn't played in an NHL game in almost a year.

Calgary general manager Jay Feaster made an ill-advised decision to sign restricted free-agent winger Ryan O'Reilly to a two-year, $10-million offer sheet Thursday, the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch writes. Feaster's offer was matched quickly by Colorado. Across the NHL, league executives are rolling their eyes, Garrioch claims, wondering what Feaster was thinking. Avs GM Greg Sherman isn't beyond reproach either, but thanks to the Flames he gets one of his top players back at an inflated price. "Calgary should have known (the Avs) were going to match it no matter what," Garrioch quotes a league insider as saying. "By doing this, what they've done is given a division rival one of their best players back instead of having that guy traded elsewhere.The Flames have given the Avs a top-six forward and the ammo that could knock Calgary out of a playoff race. This could really end badly for the Flames." To make matters worse, Sportsnet reported because O'Reilly played two games in the KHL during the lockout, he would have had to clear waivers to report to Calgary. There isn't a chance that he would have gotten through untouched. Colorado could've claimed him.

Ryan O'Reilly has passed his medical. O'Reilly will practice with the Avalanche on Saturday for the first time since holding out for more money as a restricted free agent and then signing an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames. Given how long he's gone without playing an NHL game and the fact that he's missed roughly 40% of the season, it will be interesting to see if the Avalanche attempt to ease him into the lineup or make him a healthy scratch for several games while he gets back up to speed.