Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari

It happened while you were sleeping but the Toronto Maple Leafs made a blockbuster trade. Toronto acquired forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues as part of a three-team trade with the Minnesota Wild.

We have acquired Ryan O’Reilly & Noel Acciari in a three-team trade with St. Louis & Minnesota.

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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

Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari Head To Toronto

With the Maple Leafs trading for O’Reilly and Acciari, the Blues got in return Mikhail Abramov & Adam Gaudette along with Toronto’s first-round pick in 2023, Ottawa’s 3rd round in 2023, and Toronto’s 2nd round pick in 2024. In addition, the Blues retained 50 percent of O’Reilly’s salary.

To make the money work, the Maple Leafs had to get a third team involved and that team was the Wild. For the Wild to retain 25 percent of O’Reilly’s salary, the Maple Leafs gave a fourth-round pick in 2025. Also, the Maple Leafs got player Josh Pillar from the Wild.

Quick #LeafsForever recap:

– Acquire O’Reilly (25%) and Acciari
– Place Matt Murray on LTI
– Assign Holmberg and Simmonds to the minors

All of the above transactions now have Toronto with $4,420,833 of usable space remaining in their LTI Salary pool.https://t.co/EPYf7mz9cz

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) February 18, 2023

What O’Reilly Brings

Though O’Reilly is having a down season, with only 19 points (12 goals and seven assists), he is still one of the best of two-way centers in the game. In addition, he adds size and physicality with a winning pedigree. O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2019 when the Blues won the Stanley Cup with 23 points (eight goals and 15 assists).

The Maple Leafs had been looking to add depth to their forward as they could not find the right combinations and it was going to be an issue when they ran up against Tampa Bay in the first round again. So this was the priority for Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas.

Dubas had O’Reilly on his list of trade targets as he knew he needed to add depth to his roster. Especially adding a depth forward that can push other players around in the lineup with playoff experience. In addition, Acciari, the Maple Leafs are familiar with during his time with the Boston Bruins. Acciari is another depth forward that brings sandpaper and grit to the bottom six forward group.

What Is Next For Toronto

With the Ryan O’Reilly trade in the books, Dubas will look to add size to his defence after being pushed around by the Boston Bruins a few weeks back.