from Terry Frei of The Denver Post,

Well, what do you know? ... Ryan O'Reilly still is here.

Absolutely, the Avalanche listened to or initiated offers involving him in the weeks leading up to the Monday trading deadline, primarily seeking an imposing, first-rate defenseman to eventually play with Erik Johnson or to anchor the second pairing.

There's a huge leap to take between discussion and consummating a deal, and others considered part of that Avalanche "core" undoubtedly also were at least mentioned at one point or another. That's all justifiable and prudent within the "anything to improve this team" parameters any general manager should follow.

The Avalanche's inertia was glaring, yes. But here's what was underplayed in much of the O'Reilly speculation. While he's a heady two-way forward, among the league's most crafty, and he broke out offensively last season with 28 goals, mostly playing on the wing, his salary benchmark at this point is daunting. He is scheduled to make $6.25 million next season in the second year of the two-year, $12 million deal he reached with the Avalanche on the verge of an arbitration heading last summer.

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