How do you trade a guy who is your team MVP for the season and has you right on the doorstep of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after finishing with 68 points last season? Well, that's where the Nashville Predators find themselves as potential sellers, but also battling for a wildcard spot.
The Predators just shocked the NHL landscape by taking down the Colorado Avalanche on their home ice in regulation, something no other team has done this season. And they did it behind O'Reily's hat trick, which he had completed already early on in the second period.
O'Reilly's goals aren't always highlight reel worthy and of the flashy variety, but they are usually always thanks to his relentless grind to get in the dirty areas in front of the net and to make things happen.
"The Factor" is the Nashville Predators MVP and a player they just can't afford to lose in a trade right now
The hat trick against the Avalanche to push the Predators to the huge upset victory is his seventh career hat trick in the NHL. But what is even better about O'Reilly and what he means to the Predators is his intangibles. His leadership, like an extension of the head coach on the ice. His ability to affect the game in a positive way even if he's not scoring goals.
And all of this is why O'Reilly is such a prized target on the trade market and at least a few teams are going to be willing to pay a hefty price to acquire who I'm calling the MVP for the Predators this season. More valuable than Juuse Saros. More valuable than Filip Forsberg. More valuable than Steven Stamkos.
For me, the Predators MVP is unequivocally Ryan O'Reilly. And for Trotz to actually end up trading him this season, it will have to be something that will instantly benefit the Predators in the short-term as well as benefit their long-term objective of getting younger. That should mean a first-round draft pick and a young talent that is already starting regularly in the NHL.
Now you might think that is asking way too much for O'Reilly, and that's fair. But I think you have to shoot high to justify trading O'Reilly in this situation with the Predators pushing for a playoff spot and O'Reilly being such a key part of this team's success.
Furthermore, this isn't some run of the mill veteran who happens to be catching fire. This guy loves playing in Nashville and believes in this organization. He's never made it about him unless it was to criticize his own game and be self accountable. Trading him away, possibly against his own wishes, just wouldn't sit well with me.
Of course a lot can still change this outlook in the next 15 games before the trade deadline gets here on March 6. A lot of movement in the standings will change teams' approach on the trade deadline from where we are now and where we may be coming out of the Olympic break.
Unless something drastically changes and the Predators hit a long losing streak that sends them plummeting down the standings, I just don't see Trotz trading away his team MVP.