If it feels like we've been picking on the St. Louis Blues a bit this season…well, maybe we have been. After all, it wasn't that long ago we looked at how the Blues could trade UFA-to-be Vladimir Tarasenko.
Since winning seven in a row, they have lost six of their next seven games, and tempers are up again.
Jordan Binnington has started so many petty fights that coach Craig Berube wants him to knock it off and just worry about the whole puck-stopping thing. They've allowed a ton of goals and haven't scored nearly as much, given the talent in their lineup.
The Blues are indeed quite blue, and, again, it feels like they need a shakeup. Trading Tarasenko is one thing they could do; trading team captain Ryan O'Reilly is another.
Like Tarasenko, O'Reilly is in the final year of his contract. O'Reilly's seven-year, $52.5 million contract he signed with the Buffalo Sabres oh, so long ago is at an end this summer, which turns him into the perfect candidate to trade to a serious Stanley Cup contender.
But where? Surely there's a market for the 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner who regularly scores 50-60 points and is also one of the better defensive forwards in the league, not to mention an outstanding faceoff winner.
There should be a ton of teams after him, but I'm narrowing it down to five, given those teams' current situations, future outlook and hopes to win it all this year.
As the guy who asked the question that (accidentally) aided O'Reilly being traded out of Buffalo, I think I've got some rather unfortunate expertise in this department.
5. Colorado Avalanche
Everyone loves a feel-good story, right? If the Colorado Avalanche brought Ryan O'Reilly back to the franchise, it would have to qualify as one.
When the Avalanche traded O'Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres at the 2015 draft, it ended what was a semi-tumultuous time in Denver for O'Reilly. If you don't recall, O'Reilly signed an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames in late February 2013 after a stalemate over a deal with the Avalanche caused O'Reilly to miss the first half of that season.
Colorado almost immediately matched the two-year, $10 million offer, and the clock began ticking down to when O'Reilly would likely move on from the team.
That time came in the summer of 2015 when O'Reilly was a year into his next contract of two years, $12 million. The relationship was never quite the same after the offer sheet, and they were happy to send him to the Sabres for a package of prospects, including J.T. Compher, who remains with the team now.
Time heals all wounds, and former Avs GM Greg Sherman is long gone after Joe Sakic took control of the position. Since then, both O'Reilly and the Avalanche have won a Stanley Cup, and both sides have thrived. Reuniting Colorado and their 2009 second-round pick would be a hatchet burial worth smiling about, and it would give Colorado a vastly improved chance to repeat as champions.
Center is one position where things are a little dicey for the Avalanche, and bringing back O'Reilly would vastly strengthen them up the middle behind Nathan MacKinnon. A bonus to adding O'Reilly would be insurance in case of a MacKinnon injury. The Avs' center left Monday's loss to the Flyers with an upper-body injury, and while there's no word yet for how long he'll be out, it's something that bears watching.
If bygones can be bygones, a reunion in Denver could go a long way to hosting another parade through the Rockies.