Big Decision Coming For O'Reilly

While everyone was debating whether it was best for 18 year old Matt Duchene to stick with the big club, suddenly there was another 18 year old who had also found his way onto the roster.

No one expected Ryan O'Reilly to make it out of training camp.

Seldom do players not return to their respective junior clubs after being drafted. So far, six players have have made the NHL straight from the 2009 draft: John Tavares (first overall, NYI), Victor Hedman (TBL, second overall), Matt Duchene (COL, third overall), Evander Kane (ATL, fourth overall), Dmitri Kulikov (FLA, 14th overall), and Ryan O'Reilly (COL, 33rd overall).

Of those six, O'Reilly is the only player not to be drafted in the first round. The last time a second round draft pick made the jump straight to the NHL was back in the 2003-2004 season when Patrice Bergeron joined the Boston Bruins after being drafted 45th overall.

But there's another big difference between O'Reilly and the rest of the 2009 draft class: the role he's been given.

Through three games, O'Reilly has averaged 13:06 of ice time per game playing as Colorado's fourth line center. For a developing player trying to adjust to the NHL, that's not nearly enough.

That's not to say he hasn't been serviceable. Along with T.J. Galiardi he's helped Colorado's penalty kill to second best in the NHL, allowing only one goal on 11 chances against. Also, his 64.7 face off percentage is by far the best on the team.

And that's why Colorado drafted him—solid defensive play, a area of the offense that has been sorely missed since Drury and Yelle were simultaneously traded away to Calgary before the start of the 2002-2003 season.

However, O'Reilly is supposed to bring some offense to his game as well.

Last year in 68 games with Erie of the OHL, he scored 50 assists and 66 points. Through three games with the Avalanche, he has one assist, 9 total seconds of power play time, and only one shot on goal.

Management has a big decision on their hands.

Do they remove an effective player from the roster just because his ice time hasn't been great? On the flip side of that coin, can O'Reilly develop into the type of player they want him to if he's the fourth center on the depth chart?

If I were a part of the decision making process, I'd focus on the latter question. It's not about this year, it's about the future. If his role doesn't increase over the next six games (playing a 10th game would officially make him a pro athlete), I think he needs to be sent back to the OHL.

But I've been wrong before.