Ryan O'Reilly

Despite the team playing better, the St. Louis Blues hung up the skates on 2022-23. They traded their captain and a motor-player for future assets.

If for no other reason, he will get to play because the Blues are suddenly thin at center and Gaudette can play in the middle. Neither set of fans are happy with the deal, which means it’s a fair deal. For the Blues, the main acquisition are the draft picks. As part of a “paperwork” move, the Blues technically traded O’Reilly to Minnesota, who then sent him onto the Maple Leafs. Their part in the play was acquiring a draft pick and salary retention. So, the Toronto Maple Leafs got the NHL part of the deal.

The Blues traded Ryan O'Reilly to Toronto on Friday night, shipping their captain away during a pre-trade deadline selloff.

Acquired in a big trade with the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Maple Leafs forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari were in the air on Saturday morning headed ...

That, and the latest NHL news and NHL trade rumors in your Colorado Hockey Now Evan's Daily. Colorado Hockey Now. Cale Makar was in a full contact jersey for ...

Toronto landed one of the biggest trade targets ahead of the March 3 deadline.

Louis Blues](https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/teams/STL/st-louis-blues/) in a three-team trade that also includes the [Minnesota Wild](https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/teams/MIN/minnesota-wild/). O'Reilly will slot in as the Leafs' third-line center behind In that Cup run, O'Reilly posted eight goals and 15 assists in 26 games played.

What's next for the Blues, who have two more pending UFAs in Ivan Barbashev and Thomas Greiss?

[Niko Mikkola](https://theathletic.com/nhl/player/niko-mikkola-c3mc0xcvlonmfTr6/) in the package with Tarasenko. [Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers](https://theathletic.com/4173347/2023/02/09/blues-vladimir-tarasenko-trade-rangers/) on Feb. Louis traded O’Reilly and Noel Acciari](https://theathletic.com/4222748/2023/02/17/leafs-ryan-oreilly-noel-acciari-trade/) to Toronto in a deal that needed a third team, Minnesota, to help accommodate [the salary-cap ramifications](https://theathletic.com/4222967/2023/02/18/ryan-oreilly-maple-leafs-wild/). What is obvious is that the Blues are intent on accruing as many draft picks as possible, and a few extra players as well. The [Blues](https://theathletic.com/nhl/team/blues/) received the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2023, a second-round pick in 2024, a third-round pick in 2023 that previously belonged to Ottawa, along with forwards Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette. Granted, they received a sizable package in return Friday, but if a decision was made to step toward the future with young players, such as He wanted to be at Scotiabank Arena for the morning skate on Saturday, and he is expected to play in their game later tonight against [Ryan O’Reilly](https://theathletic.com/nhl/player/ryan-oreilly-WuR6jIoZSgCoFDOL/) told The Athletic [in an interview](https://theathletic.com/4125574/2023/01/26/ryan-oreilly-blues-trade-contract/) on Jan. Would he consider coming back to the Blues, the club he led to the city’s first Stanley Cup in 2019? O’Reilly learned about the trade in a phone call from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong around 9 p.m. When he did, he had a point in each of the Blues’ next three games, and they went 3-0, pulling within six points of a playoff spot. He was out with a broken foot and wouldn’t return to the lineup until two weeks later on Feb.

The Eastern Conference has been trending toward being more competitive than the West for years. That doesn't necessarily mean the top teams in the East are…

The Islanders, Rangers and Leafs have come calling, and you wonder how the rest of the conference will respond. [$10 million](https://www.capfriendly.com/players/timo-meier) qualifying offer is probably the most coveted winger available, and he's been linked to [the Devils and Hurricanes](https://theathletic.com/4216008/2023/02/17/nhl-trade-deadline-timo-meier-canadiens/?access_token=3567163&redirected=1), per SportsNet's Elliotte Friedman. But the Rangers were wary for a good reason: Kane's documented hip troubles and his unproductive start to the season. The Leafs are giving their competitors one fewer option in a conference that keeps seeking reinforcements from the West. Then the Panthers (62 points), Red Wings (60 points), Sabres (58 points) and Senators (56 points) are all descending in two-point increments. This was a three-way trade that saw Minnesota jumping in to receive Toronto's fourth-round pick in 2025, and the Leafs got Josh Pillar from Minnesota. It's smart of them to go all-in at this deadline, especially with a probable first-round matchup with the battle-tested Lightning. He brings veteran Stanley Cup experience, center depth, the ability to chip in on offense when required and a much-needed calming defensive presence (if we forgive his part in Blues' poor defensive play as a whole this year—which we should if we're assessing O'Reilly's potential impact on this far superior Leafs team). The latter is a little pricey for a fourth liner at $1.25 million, but both of those salaries combined are still considerably cheaper than O'Reilly's actual salary. The Rangers were next up, Behind the No. But it does make punching a ticket to the playoffs more challenging.

The Leafs traded for Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly on Friday night in the third big move by a contender in advance of the March 3 trade deadline.

Canadiens is the early game featured on "Hockey Night in Canada." It is available to watch live on CBC Sports in Canada. The Maple Leafs' first game after the trade is Saturday night against the Canadiens in Toronto. The game will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Keefe said Saturday morning that both O'Reilly and Noel Acciairi, who was also a part of the deal, will be in the Toronto lineup. There is also a chance that O'Reilly plays on a wing if head coach Sheldon Keefe wants to utilize him in the top six.

A smart move for veteran forward Ryan O'Reilly could make the difference in a do-or-die season for the Maple Leafs.

The Wild entered the season approximately $3 million under the $82.5 million salary cap, a cushion that wouldn't have covered the contract Kevin Fiala secured ...

they control what they can control [and] that's how they play the game on the ice. That amounts to $74,000 in salary and a $557,000 cap hit, the price tag for them ultimately snagging a fourth-round pick. Nashville after outlasting Dallas 2-1 in a shootout right before the Friday evening transaction was announced. Louis and Toronto; teams can retain salary on up to three players. They retained 25% of O'Reilly's contract and then sent him to the Maple Leafs and received a 2025 fourth-round draft pick; Toronto also landed Pillar and Noel Acciari from St. Impending free agents make much more sense for the team.

O'Reilly could be the player to get the Maple Leafs over the hump in the postseason.

The Wild just got a free fourth-round pick to take on $1.875 million in salary for the rest of this season. Between Tarasenko and O'Reilly, the Blues deserve credit for coming to terms with the current state of the team and getting good value out of a couple veterans on the wrong side of 30. That's not a bad deal, and the only downside is that it puts a slight dent into Minnesota's flexibility to improve its own roster between now and the trade deadline. Based on the role he'll be asked to play in Toronto, O'Reilly will be a nice luxury for the Leafs. Acciari has 18 points in 54 games this season, and he will likely take on a bottom-six role for the Leafs. Anything short of competing for a Stanley Cup will make this a tough pill to swallow for Toronto. The good news for O'Reilly is that he is about to be in a much better situation, which should allow him to play at a higher level. The Maple Leafs gave up a total of four draft picks, including a first-round selection, to make this trade happen. The Blues owned a 50.21% expected goals share with O'Reilly on the ice at five-on-five, and the team's save percentage in those situations was a miserable 87.2%, per Natural Stat Trick. [Ryan O'Reilly](/nhl/players/1707441/ryan-oreilly/) and forward [Noel Acciari](/nhl/players/2197804/noel-acciari/) from the [St. All of those factors meant Toronto was probably going to push its chips to the middle of the table ahead of this trade deadline, and that is exactly what it did. In return, the Blues received a 2023 first-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, forward Mikhail Abramov and forward [Adam Gaudette](/nhl/players/2921715/adam-gaudette/).

Less than a day after a blockbuster trade sent him from St. Louis to Toronto, new Maple Leafs forward Ryan O'Reilly started in his first game in his new ...

[Auston Matthews](http://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/4024123/auston-matthews) and [Rasmus Sandin](https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/4352803/rasmus-sandin) each picked up two assists. Giordano was a longtime captain of the [Calgary Flames](/nhl/team/_/name/cgy/calgary-flames). [Joseph Woll](https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/4271575/joseph-woll) made 29 saves. "I don't think you can ever have enough," Tavares said of leadership. [Josh Anderson](https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/3069687/josh-anderson) scored 42 seconds into the second period for Montreal, which got 37 stops from [Jake Allen](https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/5111/jake-allen). Louis in 2019, started on a line between You feel the energy in this building," he said. "There's a reason it's the Mecca of hockey. "That was great. They get a chance to acknowledge him and see him out of the gate," Keefe said. The new guys fit in really well. It is going to really, really help us.

Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari have altered the complexion of the Leafs, their lineup and all the potential it might have for the playoffs.

[Nick Foligno](https://theathletic.com/nhl/player/nick-foligno-8Nm17ZmqrZT25fnL/) two years ago? That can be the difference in winning or losing a game and thus, winning or losing a series. Don’t sleep either on the Leafs paying just 25 percent of O’Reilly’s salary, for a cap hit of $1.875 million. “You can have the mystery box or you can have the prospects. The Lightning had a big-time advantage in that department (centre utility) before this trade. The Leafs had no one who even remotely resembled O’Reilly as a two-way contributor. O’Reilly took reps with Järnkrok on the Leafs’ third penalty-killing unit and figures to play a pretty even more prominent role there down the line. If Tavares isn’t comfortable on the wing, Keefe can always move O’Reilly over (though that asks more of Tavares defensively). O’Reilly has also long been one of the league’s very best in that department. A group with the potential to make life hard on Stamkos and company at both ends. Tavares has increasingly been a little overtaxed that way, especially in the playoffs. “We didn’t really have the depth at centre to be able to give it much of a look other than a shift here and there.”