While the Toronto Maple Leafs have been among the NHL’s most successful regular-season teams for the past half-decade, playoff success has eluded them. One player who had similarly spent an extended period without any playoff success is Ryan O’Reilly, who spent nearly his first decade in the NHL without making it to the second round. In 2019, though, O’Reilly bucked that career trend, leading the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup victory and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy along the way.
The Maple Leafs want to do the same this spring, and it seems that they view O’Reilly as someone who can help them get there. Per Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic’s first 2022-23 trade board, Toronto has “talked about O’Reilly internally,” debating the prospect of acquiring him from the Blues. (subscription link) While O’Reilly’s scoring numbers have slowed down, Toronto could add him to a center corps that already boasts Auston Matthews and John Tavares, forming what would be likely the best trio of centers in the NHL. He remains a player with a sterling reputation as a playoff performer, and as a pending unrestricted free agent acquiring him would pose no long-term financial complications.
For some other notes from across the NHL:
- The Montreal Canadiens have been better than expected this season, as they were the NHL’s worst team last year but have hovered around the .500 mark so far in 2022-23. Despite that, the team is still anticipated to engage other teams as a seller in next year’s trade market, and one of the players reportedly garnering interest from other teams is defenseman Joel Edmundson. On TSN’s Insider Trading segment, LeBrun reported that the Edmonton Oilers had interest in adding Edmundson, a 2019 Stanley Cup champion who has taken an important leadership role on a young Canadiens team.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced tonight that defenseman Nate Schmidt has suffered an upper-body injury, and will not return to their game against the Nashville Predators. Schmidt appeared to suffer the injury after a high hit from Predators forward Tanner Jeannot. The loss of Schmidt costs the Jets one of their top-four defensemen, as he has skated in over 20 minutes per night, including time on the second units of both special teams phases.
The return for O’Reilly would be…?
A haul
First, Topi and another prospect not named Knies. Then Knies goes and plays on Marner and Jt’s wing. Top line stays the same 3rd line would be O’Reilly Jarnkroke and Kerfoot. 4th line Kampf, Engvall, Aston-Reese
So how are you fitting in his salary?
If your wanting STL to retain some you better add to the trade.
… which isn’t likely to happen short of a substantial bribe. St. Louis is hard against the cap themselves, and unless they commit to a full rebuild (and therefore move Tarasenko too), they can’t afford to take back much beyond sheer picks.
But here’s the other angle: O’Reilly is having a mediocre season. His defensive numbers have been surprisingly brutal for a former Selke winner, he’s well down on his career standards for winning faceoffs. I agree the Leafs could use the 27-year-old O’Reilly (who couldn’t?), but the guy in his thirties on the ice now isn’t going to be worth what they’ll have to pay for him.
Can you imagine the Leafs having 3 centers like that…..and then look at the Preds not having even one good center? Sigh.
@Gbear—Don’t look over your shoulder…it’s still there…maybe the water main will “accidentally” break again… I’d lend you a sledgehammer, if I still owned one. :)
@Mac – It may be the only way to keep their season from going under water (see what I did there?). :D
At this rate, they may not hit the 100 goal mark this season. But I’m sure GMDP is looking to make a move…..for another 3rd pairing Dman. :/
@Gbear—I knew I was forgetting the critical implement you’d need for this job – a giant mop. And, maybe an industrial-strength Northern Tool & Equipment sump pump. You’ll be able to generate enough noise to prevent another bad personnel decision by you-know-who. In the meantime, I’ll look for a pair of skates… :)
so apart from one season, he has 1 playoff round win in STL. seems like he would be perfect in Toronto.
Huh? Dude he has a cup