The Colorado Avalanche agreed to terms with three RFAs on Wednesday -- none of which were, much to some fans’ chagrin, named Ryan O’Reilly.
Defensemen Stefan Elliott and Karl Stollery, along with forward Paul Carey, all accepted their qualifying offers. For details, here’s TVA’s Renaud Lavoie:#avalanche signed Karl Stollery ($605 000) Paul Carey ($715 000) and Stefan Elliott ($850 000) All for 1 year (2 way) #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) July 16, 2014
Of the three, Elliott played the least last year (one regular season game, zilch in the playoffs) but does have the highest draft pedigree, having been selected 49th overall at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Stollery, 26, appeared in two games while Carey, 25, made 12 appearances and three more in the playoffs.
To put it bluntly, all three are depth signings that’ll float between Colorado and AHL Lake Erie next season. What folks are really curious about is how the Avs will handle negotiations for O’Reilly and another key RFA, offensive defenseman Tyson Barrie. O’Reilly is set for club-elected arbitration on July 23 while Barrie’s new deal sounds more like a formality than anything else.
