The Rangers have checked in on Ryan O’Reilly, but are very unlikely to pursue a deal for Colorado’s unsigned restricted free-agent center, The Post has learned.
It is not the yet undetermined cost in assets that the Blueshirts — whose three-game winning streak ended with Thursday night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders at the Garden — would have to send to the Avalanche in order to acquire the 22-year-old pivot, but rather O’Reilly’s asking price for a contract that is discouraging a pursuit by general manager Glen Sather.
O’Reilly, who recorded 55 points (18 goals, 37 assists) a year ago in the third and final season of his Entry Level contract, has rejected Colorado’s two-year offer of $3.5 million per that the Rangers would be hard pressed to improve upon, let alone match, given the team’s looming cap crunch for next season. O’Reilly also has rejected offers of up to five years with a slightly lower annual average salary.
The Rangers made it a policy, beginning in 2008-09 with Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky and continuing this year with Michael Del Zotto, to sign restricted free agents lacking salary arbitration rights to two-year “bridge” deals.
The Blueshirts have three prominent players coming up on such restricted free agency this summer in first-pair defenseman Ryan McDonagh and current first-line forwards Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin.
Stepan, who is earning $875,000 on the final year of his Entry Level deal, recorded 51 points last year (17-34) and had 96 points (38-58) his first two seasons in the NHL. That’s 15 points more than O’Reilly recorded (31-50) the last two seasons.
The cap will be reduced from this year’s effective $70.2 million to $64.3 million next season, though the Rangers do have one amnesty buyout available after this season.
The Rangers currently have approximately $5.22 million of available full-season cap space.
* Brian Boyle was assertive in his return to the lineup after sitting the previous three as a healthy scratch. Boyle, who opened between Taylor Pyatt and J.T. Miller before centering Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan when Brad Richards was benched in the third period, had five shots and eight hits in 17:39.
“I think it was a little better but I want to make a difference, put the puck in the net, create a few more chances,” said Boyle. “I think I can be a better player [than I’ve been] and I’m going to try to be better.”