Rumors II: Staal, O’Reilly, Sobotka and Scouting Erie and Brandon

“I heard about it,” Staal said of a possible deadline deal involving his current and former teams.

“It is what it is. With where our team was in the standings, there’s always potential for anyone to be talked about. Rumors are rumors. They do fly around pretty easy. Fortunately that’s all it was.”

Staal reiterated yesterday that he did not ask Hurricanes GM Ron Francis for a trade.

“I have not asked Ron to move me, no,” Staal said following the Hurricanes’ morning skate. “He told me he has no intention of moving me.”

“Right, well that would be a concern for the team that’s trading for Ryan O’Reilly. It’s not his ability. It’s not the impact that he can provide. It’s what is he going to cost long term.

“And you’re creeping close to unrestricted free agency for Ryan O’Reilly. He’s got another season under contract, then he’s a UFA. So if you’re making that trade, then you’re going to want to be absolutely certain that there’s a deal to be reached and an extension to be had. Otherwise, you’re not going to pay a top asset to acquire Ryan O’Reilly.

“But know this – Patrick Roy loves Ryan O’Reilly for all the reasons you saw and mentioned last night. So I think the Colorado Avalanche are going to do everything they can to keep him in the mix, but everything has a price tag. So that’s going to be multiple conversations between Joe Sakic of the Avalanche and Pat Morris, who represents Ryan O’Reilly.

“But he is such a key piece of that team. It’ll be real difficult for them to replace him, but as we know – every team has to deal with the salary cap. And in the end, if Joe Sakic and the Avalanche don’t believe that Ryan O’Reilly is worth 6.5 or $7 million per year, then chances are they’ll have to make that conclusion this summer and at that point then they’ll find a trade.”