The Calgary Flames are familiar with the danger of offer sheets, having tendered one in 2013 that almost ended in disaster.
The Calgary Flames are no strangers to the risks of NHL offer sheets, having narrowly avoided disaster when they tendered one to Ryan O'Reilly in 2013.
This week, the St. Louis Blues tendered two offer sheets to the Edmonton Oilers; one for forward Dylan Holloway and the other for defenseman Philip Broberg. The Oilers have a few more days to decide if they'll match or take the compensation, but the Blues were smart, precise, and calculated in the way they put these offer sheets together. They've made it difficult for the Oilers to walk away from this unscathed.
The same can't be said for the Flames back in 2013, who went after Ryan O'Reilly, not realizing they almost crippled their rebuild plans and could have lost the player for nothing if the Colorado Avalanche hadn't matched.
Why the Flames Almost Lost O'Reilly For Nothing
O'Reilly, then a rising star with the Colorado Avalanche, signed to a two-year offer sheet. The deal was worth $5 million per season. At the time, the Flames were struggling, and GM Jay Feaster was desperate to shake things up. On the surface, it was a decent idea. However, few knew (the Flames didn't) that a strange rule in the CBA almost turned this offer sheet into the botch of the season.
As was reported by Sportsnet reporter Chris Johnston, because O'Reilly had played in Europe after the NHL season began, he would have had to clear waivers before joining the Flames.
Had Colorado not matched the offer, the Flames would have inadvertently made O'Reilly available to any team lower than them in the standings who wanted to claim his contract. That means the Flames could have theoretically lost their first and third-round picks in the 2013 draft, and the player to a team with waiver priority.
In what would have been the biggest kick in the gut, even Colorado had priority over the Flames. They could have taken the Flames' picks and grabbed O'Reilly off of waivers.
Thankfully for Calgary, Colorado matched the offer (they didn't know about the rule either), avoiding what could have been a disastrous outcome.