Ryan O’Reilly Wants To Stay With Blues
The Blues got Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas taken care of this offseason signing massive contract extensions. Captain Ryan O’Reilly, however, is still without a contract extension. O’Reilly is about to enter the final year of his contract that will pay him a $7.5 million AAV.
The Blues captain spoke to the media as camp opened up in St. Louis. He told reporters that he wants to stay with the Blues but isn’t in any rush because he’s secure. O’Reilly knows how valuable he is.
“I definitely think this is where I want to be and move forward and such like that,” the St. Louis captain said. “I think that stuff will play out on its own. I’m just keep trying to focus on the season and the guys and being ready here. I’m not worried about things not playing out the right way. We’ll see. We’ll see how things go.”
“I feel like there’s so much more focused on next year,” O’Reilly said. “I feel like because we have such a good team and some new faces, the focus is getting ready for the season. But obviously we’ve kind of started some dialogue. There’s just no real rush. We’ve got a long time to figure that out and I’m not worried. I don’t think [general manager] Doug [Armstrong] is worried either. It’ll work itself out as it goes. The focus here is on training camp and getting in shape and getting ready to go. He’s got a tough job too, with selling the team and such like that. I think that’s where both of our focus is at.”
“I think after having being around, I think if I was younger, I think it would be more of an issue and such, but I feel like I’ve been established,” the 31-year-old said. “I kind of know where I stand. There’s no real urgency. Hopefully we find a way to make it work. I feel I’m happy with just waiting and just focusing on the season. Hopefully things play out the right way, but again, the focus is here and on training camp.”
O’Reilly, 31, had 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists) in 78 regular-season games last season. It was the same old story to end the year for St. Louis, O’Reilly had to watch the team that drafted him, beat him in the postseason. The Blues were knocked out by the eventual champion Avalanche in the second round of last year’s playoffs.
O’Reilly is in his fifth season with the Blues and has been with the team since Buffalo traded him in 2018. O’Reilly became the captain two years later and has added a Stanley Cup Trophy to his name in his Blues tenure. Time will tell if St. Louis finds a way to keep their captain in free agency next year. O’Reilly will likely have plenty of suitors.
