It all started going bad off the ice for O'Reilly and the Avs right after the last NHL lockout was settled in 2013. While everyone else was excited to get back to their NHL teams, O'Reilly still didn't have a contract. Despite being one of the team's most important players, including leading the team in scoring the season before, O'Reilly and Avs management bickered over the value of a new deal. Things were going nowhere when the Calgary Flames suddenly gave him a two-year, $10 million offer sheet, which included a back-loaded final year that carried a $6.5 million cap hit.
The Avs had to grit their teeth and match the offer, and while O'Reilly would play another two-plus seasons in Denver, it always felt too much like a shotgun marriage. The big contract he got from Calgary created tension in the Avs dressing room that O'Reilly and others tried to deny publicly. However, before the Sabres' game against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, O'Reilly told Bleacher Report the offer sheet created tension after he had already missed several games in that 48-game, shortened season.
That tension was especially pronounced, O'Reilly said, with teammate Matt Duchene. The two were drafted in the same year (2009) and made the team as 18-year-olds. They were supposed to be the twin faces of the franchise for a long time to come, but the business side of the game took a toll on their relationship. Duchene signed a team cap-friendly two-year, $7 million deal previous to the lockout, and the Avs expected him to follow suit and for probably a little less. When he returned with a much bigger deal after essentially holding out, it created friction with Duchene.

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