Flames avoid nightmare in O’reilly chase
CALGARY — The Calgary Flames might want to add the Garth Brooks hit Unanswered Prayers to the playlist for Sunday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Sure, Flames fans were crestfallen Thursday night upon learning the Colorado Avalanche matched Calgary’s offer sheet for restricted free agent Ryan O’Reilly.
And sure, the mere thought of the Flames finally acquiring a legitimate firstline centre left the faithful salivating in anticipation.
But as it turns out, the Flames — and their longsuffering faithful — might want to hit their knees in gratitude for Colorado stepping up and saving them from potential disaster.
As first reported Friday by Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, the 22-year-old O’Reilly played two games for Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia after the end of the NHL lockout.
Under terms of the memorandum of understanding for the new collective bargaining agreement, O’Reilly — in the eyes of the NHL — would have had to clear waivers before joining any team other than the Avalanche.
Should Colorado general manager Greg Sherman have not matched Calgary’s offer, the Flames would have surrendered their first- and third-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft as compensation to the Avs.
If O’Reilly, described by Calgary general manager Jay Feaster as a franchise player, had been required to clear waivers, the Flames would have surely lost him and gained nothing in return (in 81 games last season, the Erie Otters product collected 18 goals and 55 points).
The Flames, however, contend the rules state the two-way centreman did not need to be waived due to his restricted free agent status with the Avalanche.
“Prior to tendering the offer sheet for Ryan O’Reilly we, as a hockey operations department, examined whether there were any impediments to our successfully securing the services of the player including, but not limited to, his having played in the KHL after the start of the NHL season,” Feaster said in a news release issued Friday afternoon.
“Our interpretation of the Article 13 transition rules governing restricted free agents, and the applicability of Article 13.23 under the new collective bargaining agreement to such RFAs was, and continues to be, different than the NHL’s current interpretation as articulated to us this morning. Moreover, throughout our discussions, the player’s representative shared our interpretation and position.”
Pat Morris, O’Reilly’s agent, told a Toronto radio station Friday that he did not know that his client would be subject to waivers if the Avalanche had opted to not match Calgary’s pitch.
“I would not put any team in that kind of position,” Morris told TSN Radio 1050. “There were other teams that were speaking about offer sheets for a long time on Ryan O’Reilly and consulting with people at the league level on structure and format.
“We still haven’t seen the CBA, the agreement is in place but I don’t think the document is complete for anyone’s eyes to read, so that issue is the first I’ve heard of that. At the same time, one would have believed that Calgary doing what they did would have gotten the player if Colorado had made a decision not to match.”
The Flames forced Colorado’s hand Thursday in signing O’Reilly to an offer sheet worth $3.5 million this season and $6.5 million in 201314. Rest assured, the dispute would have likely landed in arbitration if the Avs had chosen to walk away.
But the apparent nearmiss, for Flames fans, is reason to look skyward and give thanks for unanswered prayers.