Jay Feaster might consider sending Greg Sherman a thank-you note. Or perhaps a fine bottle of wine.
The general manager of the Colorado Avalanche appears to have inadvertently done the Calgary Flames a big favour by choosing to match the offer sheet signed by 22-year-old centre Ryan O?Reilly on Thursday.
In a bizarre twist to an already unusual story, Sportsnet.ca has discovered that the Flames were not only in danger of losing 2013 first- and third-round draft picks as compensation if the Avs hadn?t matched the O?Reilly contract, but they also would likely have had to surrender the player before ever getting him in uniform.
That?s because O?Reilly would have needed to clear waivers before joining the team?s roster.
The unsigned forward spent part of the NHL lockout playing with his brother, Cal, for Magnitogorsk in Russia. According to Metallurg coach Paul Maurice and KHL spokesman Shawn McBride, he appeared in games on Jan. 21 and Jan. 23 ? both after the shortened NHL schedule was back underway ? which meant that waivers were required before O?Reilly could return to the NHL as a free agent midway through the season.
The origin of the rule goes back to Finnish defenceman Reijo Ruotsalainen, who frequently bounced between Europe and the NHL in the 1980s, once joining the Edmonton Oilers just in time to win the Stanley Cup.
More recently, Evgeni Nabokov, Kyle Wellwood and Marek Svatos have all signed with NHL teams upon returning to North America and then found themselves suiting up elsewhere after being immediately picked off the waiver wire.
The most interesting part of O?Reilly?s case is that the NHL didn?t believe he had played in Russia after the start of its season, according to a source. That detail had apparently slipped through the cracks ? understandable given all of the work being done to get the league up and running after the lockout.
However, it could have ended up being an awfully important detail to overlook.
