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Next up, the most expensive player in Sabre history #90 Ryan O’Reilly F (one season left at $6 million per, then 7 more at $7.5 million per, age 24) Colorado Avalanche 17/38/55/6/-5/12 Whatever your feelings are about O’Reilly – and everyone in the hockey world has them — he did accomplish something almost unheard of: he made the NHL immediately as an 18-year-old second-round draft pick. In the past four seasons O’Reilly has averaged nearly 60 points over 80 games. He doesn’t take penalties and he never gets hurt. Everyone agrees he is a fine hockey player. They divide on whether he is an elite two-way leader and complete player who can be plugged into a variety of roles and situations and excel, or a good but greedy second-line mercenary who puts his pocketbook ahead of his team and lacks the game-breaking offence to ever be considered a first-liner. The Sabres bet heavily on the former and the early returns weren’t good when he allegedly drove drunk into a Tim Horton’s within days of his acquisition. He arrives next month with a lot to prove, but definitely is a huge element in the anticipation for the coming season. Links to the rest of the series: