Managing cap space is tough, but losing Blues captain O’Reilly would be tougher

Some — perhaps even O’Reilly’s teammates — would use an unknown future to stir up and brew the drama of a key player entering the final season of his contract before unrestricted free agency arrives.

O’Reilly had this opportunity when he entered this training camp.

And just like in 2020, when he poured cold water on what could have been controversy over teammate Vladimir Tarasenko expressing his disappointment that O’Reilly had been chosen for him as captain. team, O’Reilly did everything in his power to shut down any signs. of intrigue.

“I really think that’s where I want to be and move forward and so on,” he said. “I think this stuff is going to play itself out. I keep trying to focus on the season and the guys and being ready here. I’m not worried about things not going the right way . We’ll see how things go.”

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong sings the same tune. Both parties are open to negotiation during the season. Neither wants this to get messy, lead to an overtime for O’Reilly or the captain heading for the open market. O’Reilly is supposed to tell the truth when he says he wants to stay here. It also doesn’t mean he’s going to get a huge discount.

Hopefully this thread will go down the same path as the last expansion which didn’t seem to have much success until suddenly it did. This one was not a player. It was Stanley Cup champion coach Craig Berube’s overtime. Of course, the Blues were going to extend Chief. But when? Then they did. Doesn’t O’Reilly feel like the same kind of cornerstone?

He is the first on the ice and the last to leave. Investing in him again makes everyone on the team better, perhaps especially the two the Blues have just invested big in, emerging forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Les Bleus have decided that these two are the future of this team. Aren’t they more likely to be better players in the future by playing more seasons with O’Reilly? Of course, it looks like it.

But of course, it’s not that easy. Berube’s contract did not affect the salary cap. An extension for O’Reilly would be. And the Blues’ cap situation is nastier than a playoff beard after a chili-bake, tighter than the tape on a hockey stick. Many cap-crunch players have determined that the Blues have already positioned themselves in a way that makes an O’Reilly overtime impossible. But when you talk to people who are close to this team, they recognize that while saying different versions of the same question: they can’t let him go, can they?

A recent trend is that if you’re an important Blues player and don’t have an agreement with Armstrong on an extension by the time you start your final season under contract, your chances of getting a new deal are slim. Former Blues captain David Backes has not returned. Former Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo has not returned. Jaden Schwartz did not return. David Perron did not return. I can’t imagine many legitimately expect Tarasenko, who has expressed a desire to play for a different team in the past, to find common ground with the Blues on an extension after seasons of trade speculation.

Compare that to extensions from Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Jordan Binnington, Robert Thomas and now Jordan Kyrou. All extensions signed before or very early in the final seasons of their contracts before the arrival of unrestricted free agency.

So, yes, there’s real reason to believe this season could be O’Reilly’s last in St. Louis.

And if the Blues don’t go against the grain here, they probably will.

They should go against the grain here.

Looking at how important O’Reilly is to this team, the Blues’ correct call to captain him after Pietrangelo left, and the building blocks he brings to the locker room and to the ice scream every day that it’s It’s a needle that Armstrong has to thread.

Move others if necessary. Let Tarasenko pursue those greener pastures he seems determined to believe await him elsewhere. Make Bérubé’s job easier by keeping a veteran with championship experience who is still among the best two-way centers in the league.

If you need another reason why the Blues need to keep O’Reilly for the coming seasons, just watch how he handles this conversation about his future.

He’s just going to work, do his job, focus on the here and now.

Berube’s blue-collar Blues don’t have a captain ready to fill O’Reilly’s skates.

Armstrong must know that, right?

Paying O’Reilly will take some work, but the Blues currently don’t look like a team that can afford to let him go.

At least not if they really want to win big soon.