Many Colorado Avalanche fans and myself were very eager to see what Colorado Avalanche head coachPatrick Royand executiveJoe Sakichad in store for their press conference Thursday afternoon. The two would answer questions regarding top free-agentsPaul StastnyandRyan O’Reillywhile going over how successful the season was for their young squad.
Right off the bat, a reporter asked Sakic about the potential of signing (Paul) Stastny.
"We’re going to continue that next week, he’s a part of our core and we’re hoping to sign him… We’re going to talk next week. We have our structure, and I know he understands that. He’s earned the right to be unrestricted. If he chooses that path, he has the right to do that and see what’s out there. But we’re definitely hopeful to keep Paul here."
The next question was why they elected to go to arbitration with (Ryan) O’Reilly.
"It was our right, part of the CBA window that we hit to file for an arbitration hearing…. We’re still trying to sign Ryan. Ryan is part of our core, he’s a tremendous hockey player that we want to have here. We’re hopeful we can accomplish that, but we have our structure and he falls right in with the rest of our core. We’re hopeful it’ll work out, but if it doesn’t we know we’ll have an arbitrator tell us what he’ll make."
It’s clear the Avalanche want Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly to be apart of their club for the long-run, but at what price? Sakic also noted that veteran defensemanAndre Benoitis in consideration for being re-signed.
To hear/see more from the press conference from Thursday afternoon, make sure to watch the video noted above.
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