Insider reveals an update on whether Ryan O'Reilly will re-sign or move on from St. Louis

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Matt Garland
August 23, 2022 (6:14 PM)

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The St. Louis Blues have two major unrestricted free agents looming after the 2022-23 season. Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko will have their $7.5 million salary cap hits off the books once the season ends. They've already extended Robert Thomas for eight more seasons and Jordan Kyrou could be next. Is extending captain Ryan O'Reilly on GM Doug Armstrong's priority list?

Blues Insider at the Athletic Jeremy Rutherford was on 101ESPN Sports Talk for St. Louis and O'Reilly's contract negations came up.

Doug Armstrong respects O'Reilly, named him the captain. Everyone can see O'Reilly coming back, but I said the same thing about David Perron and I think these guys are in the same category. You can't say its an automatic, can't say its a guarantee I suppose but gosh its as close to a guarantee as you can imagine."

O'Reilly's value to St. Louis is still extremely high even if his offensive numbers were down last season. He led all forwards in average ice time with 19:04, led the team in faceoff wins, (900) and faceoff percentage. (56.78%) In 78 games he scored 21 goals and 58 points.

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O'Reilly's ability to use his stick in the defensive zone and win faceoffs are the two biggest reasons why his game will age well. He should be a top six centre for the next four seasons at least.

O'Reilly has been top five for Selke Trophy voting in all four of his seasons in St. Louis, which measures the impact of a two-way forward. He won the award in 2018-19 after winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player in the playoffs a month prior.

The Blues have lost two captains in free agency over the past six seasons. That is a trend that can't continue, especially when the Blues want to have a good reputation around the league. David Backes left after the 2015-16 season to join the Boston Bruins after five seasons as the captain in St. Louis. After that it was Alex Pietrangelo departing for the Vegas Golden Knights after the 2019-20 season after four seasons as captain.

Would a contract similar to Nazem Kadri's ($7 million x 7 years) signed with the Calgary Flames, be enough to entice O'Reilly to stick around St. Louis?

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POLL
23 AOUT \| 175 ANSWERS Insider reveals an update on whether Ryan O'Reilly will re-sign or move on from St. Louis How much would you sign Ryan O'Reilly for?
8 years x $6 million cap hit	45	25.7 %
7 years x $7 million cap hit	68	38.9 %
6 years x $8 million cap hit	62	35.4 %
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