Ryan O'Reilly's relationship with the Colorado Avalanche might have deteriorated when he wasn't named the captain. O'Reilly is a restricted free agent who is, at this point, far more likely to be traded than to ever play for the Avalanche again. O'Reilly was reportedly hurt when the Avalanche went with Gabriel Landeskog over him. The Denver Post's Adrian Dater stated, "No way do I think O'Reilly's camp would have played such hardball if he'd been named captain." Of course, there were more reasons than the captaincy that led to this current situation. The biggest is likely money. O'Reilly wanted compensation that he felt was fair given his breakout season, while Colorado didn't want to accept that level of financial risk given O'Reilly's far less impressive showings in his previous two campaigns.

Restricted free agent Ryan O'Reilly will probably be traded by the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche had no desire to trade O'Reilly originally, but we're almost a month into the season and the negotiations appear to be dead. O'Reilly is believed to be seeking a contract in the ballpark of $5 million per season after the two-way center recorded 55 points last season. However, Colorado has refused to make that kind of commitment to O'Reilly given the fact that he had just 52 points in his previous two campaigns. The Avalanche are asking for a top prospect and a roster player for O'Reilly. He's a guy a lot of teams would love to have and at the age of 22 he could be a major part of a franchise for the next decade or so, but given his contract demands, any team that meets Colorado's price will be taking on a massive risk.

The Colorado Avalanche are missing their top line from last season due to injury and restricted free agency. While losing Gabriel Landeskog (concussion) and Steve Downie (knee) to injury, the lack of Ryan O'Reilly in the lineup because both sides have not reached an agreement really hurts. The trio was put together when Downie came over from Tampa Bay on Feb. 21, 2012 and they just clicked and were the Avs top line. It appears that O'Reilly is still not close to a deal but things could change quickly if both sides are looking to compromise. Stay tuned.

One of the reasons the Avalanche and Ryan O'Reilly have been unable to reach an agreement could be the fact the team is hoping to avoid allowing the center to reach salary arbitration this summer. This isn't to say the Avs are acting in poor faith with the young player, but the team is certainly aware that O'Reilly would be eligible for arbitration this summer if he were to sign a one-year pact and suit up for a minimum of six games this season, thereby lessening the possibility of a short-term fix to the situation.

Although Ryan O'Reilly's agents and the Avalanche talked recently, neither side is reportedly willing to move from their current positions. So with 10 Avalanche games already in the books, O'Reilly might not even be close to re-signing. The question now is if a team would be willing to sign the restricted free agent to an offer sheet. The problem is that paying O'Reilly roughly what he wants - reportedly about $5 million per season - would cost the signing team at least a first and third round pick, assuming Colorado doesn't match the offer. That's a lot for O'Reilly, who is still a gamble given that he's only had one breakout season. Still, he's also young with plenty of untapped upside. A team might ultimately decide that the risk is worth the potential reward.

Restricted free agent Ryan O'Reilly's agents, Mark Guy and Pat Morris, recently spoke to the Colorado Avalanche. There aren't any details on how the talks went, but at this point even the fact that they're talking is news. The O'Reilly negotiations appear to have been stalled and he will miss his 10th game of the season on Wednesday. That's a little over 20% of the season that O'Reilly has already missed out on due to these contract talks.

There is nothing new to report on the Ryan O'Reilly contract holdout with the Avalanche. The matter was discussed during Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday and the disagreement amongst members of the panel exemplify the chasm between the two sides in negotiations. With the resolution of both the disagreements between team and player in both the P.K. Subban and Jamie Benn situations, O'Reilly remains the last remaining unsigned RFA and it's becoming more of a possibility that the forward is traded by the day.

Under the new CBA, Ryan O'Reilly is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent if the Colorado Avalanche don't re-sign him by the summer of 2014. Normally, players would have to wait until they played in seven NHL seasons or turned 27 before they could test the unrestricted free agent waters. However, the new CBA offers an exception to restricted free agents that remain unsigned for a prolonged period of time. That's to prevent teams from simply letting players rot under their control rather than trading them if they can't agree to terms. All the same, that's a long time for O'Reilly to be away from the NHL just for the sake of him becoming an unrestricted free agent. It would be easy to see that doing permanent damage to his development.

Restricted free agent Ryan O'Reilly (sprained ankle) is expected to resume skating again soon as his holdout continues to drag along. There hasn't been much communication between the club and O'Reilly's agents, Mark Guy and Pat Morris, as the Avalanche are preparing to play their seventh game of 48 on Thursday night in the NHL's shortened 2013 campaign.

The Ryan O'Reilly situation appears to still be at a standstill. O'Reilly is a restricted free agent and the Colorado Avalanche don't seem to have any desire to trade him or give in to his demands. He's not eligible to become an unrestricted free agent until the summer of 2014, so if he wants to play NHL hockey then time is on the Avalanche's side for now. That being said, this situation can't be helping his relationship with the franchise and that's not an inconsequential consideration considering that it wasn't too long ago that the 21-year-old was considered a meaningful part of their rebuilding effort.