While You Were Sleeping: Kyle Dubas Dropped A Friday Night Blockbuster That Makes The Maple Leafs Instant Contenders
It’s late on a Friday night as I just get home my phone starts blowing up. It’s not the usual traffic coming in for my Freaky Friday bets.
Rather the news of the Toronto Maple Leafs swinging for the fences and trading for St.Louis Blues Captain Ryan O’Reilly.
We have acquired Ryan O’Reilly & Noel Acciari in a three-team trade with St. Louis & Minnesota.
STL receives Mikhail Abramov & Adam Gaudette, TOR's 1st round pick in '23, OTT's 3rd round pick in '23 & TOR's 2nd round pick in '24. MIN receives TOR's 4th round pick in '25. pic.twitter.com/QAOUZvUZfH— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 18, 2023
The full deal shakes down like this:
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired St Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari in exchange for Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, plus three draft picks, one of which is Toronto’s first-rounder in 2023. A trade of this calibre has Leafs Nation, BUZZING.
Holy shit. We’re going to do it. #LeafsForever https://t.co/4P7wDioufH
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) February 18, 2023
Ryan O’Reilly is the current captain of the St. Louis Blues who won the Conn Smythe as the Blues won the cup back in 2019. This season, in 40 games has only registered 19 points but Ryan is a great two-way player who will surely add some much-needed offensive and defensive help as the Leafs try to get past the first round for the first time in 19 years.
Noel Acciari, acquired by TOR, is a capable and versatile bottom six two-way forward. Don't expect a lot of offensive creativity from him. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/oI4k9zdvbj
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 18, 2023
Noel was a part of some of those pesky Bruins teams that have caused pain for Leaf fans in the 2018 and 2019 playoffs. Noel won’t be adding any crazy scoring depth for Toronto but he plays with a lot of grit, something Toronto on the bottom six needs especially come springtime when games 83-89 will truly make or break the Maple Leaf’s season. Plus his cap hit of 1.25 million helps the Maple Leafs who are usually up against the league’s hard cap.
A big important part of the deal is that Ryan O’Reilly is in the last year of a 7-year deal he signed with the Buffalo Sabres back in 2015 where he makes 7.5 million a season, However, Kyle Dubas pulled off some magic, and got the Minnesota Wild involved in the deal and convinced the Blues and Wild to take on 50% and 25% of his salary which is a huge incentive for the Leafs to go out and make another deal.
Side note, the Leafs also acquired Wild prospect Josh Pillar who currently plays for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.
A deal of this magnitude at this time caught everyone off guard, but it certainly has sends a jolt of optimism and adds hope to a fanbase that comes playoff time, will certainly need it.
Now if you excuse me, I’m back to my cottage night where I intend to enjoy a nice slice of cherry pie. Go Leafs Go.
Griff Bordignon
Hi, my name is Griff and I'm a complete sports nut. I love to play sports, watch sports and most importantly bet on sports too. If I'm not watching or betting on sports, you can find me on the golf course, between the pipes as your average beer league goaltender. Although sports take up most of my life, I also love spending time with my two dogs, streaming usually a 90's Simpson's or attempting to read more books.