A day after the Blues traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers on Thursday for forward Sammy Blais, defenseman prospect
Hunter Skinner
, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft, the focus shifted to the St. Louis captain, who like Tarasenko and Mikkola, can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
O'Reilly, a center, said he is choosing to block out the noise surrounding what could happen with his situation. He has resumed skating and has a strong chance of returning against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; BSMW, BSAZ, ESPN+, SN NOW) after missing the past 14 games with a broken left foot while blocking a shot in a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 31.
"There's a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors, but honestly, I pay no attention to that," the 32-year-old said Friday. "My focus is here. That's stuff that we talked about this morning is, we're here, we're trying to get back in the fight. Let's control what we can control, and that's preparing for Saturday's game and that's kind of where it's at right now. That's what it is.
"For us as a group, we've got still 10 games until] the deadline. Our focus is taking these one game at a time, winning these hockey games, getting back in the fight."
***[RELATED: [Tarasenko traded to Rangers | Tarasenko trade 'officially an end of an era' for Blues]*
The Blues (23-25-3), who have lost five in a row, are nine points out of a position in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Following the trade of Tarasenko and Mikkola, other players who are on expiring contracts, including O'Reilly, forwards Ivan Barbashev and Noel Acciari and goalie Thomas Greiss, could be on the move with St. Louis potentially retooling its roster.
The Blues have three weeks to decide if they will re-sign O'Reilly before the trade deadline or potentially trade him for assets.
"Ryan's our captain. I'm a big fan of Ryan," St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong said. "He and I have talked behind closed doors and I'm going to keep it there. He knows how I feel about him."
O'Reilly, who is in the final year of a seven-year, $52.5 million contract ($7.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Buffalo Sabres on July 3, 2015, has admitted there have been contract discussions but didn't want to elaborate publicly.
"I'd rather not share," he said. "I know you guys got to ask that stuff, but for me, I just want to focus on getting back, getting healthy and getting us back into the mix right now. I know you guys got to ask about that, but that's my focus right now and I appreciate it."
O'Reilly, who has played five seasons with the Blues since he was acquired in a trade with the Sabres on July 1, 2018, helped them to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2019 when they defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after he had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 26 games.
"He's obviously our leader and a guy that he doesn't want to leave," St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn said. "That's a guy that we love to have here as players, and everyone knows that. That's obviously no surprise. That's between Doug and Ryan and his agents. These are obviously questions we're going to face for the next little while.
"At the end of the day, you put on your gear and you go out and play and win hockey games. That's all that matters. The rest usually takes care of itself. Obviously, 'Factor' is a guy we'd like to have. He's a huge piece to our team and moving forward."
