The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly and forward Noel Acciari in a blockbuster trade also involving the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
The Blues receive forward prospect Mikhail Abramov, AHL forward Adam Gaudette, Toronto's first-round pick in 2023, Ottawa's third-round pick in 2023 and Toronto's second-round pick in 2024. St. Louis will also eat 50 per cent of O'Reilly's remaining salary.
The Wild will retain 25 per cent of O'Reilly's total salary as an intermediary in the trade. In exchange, the Maple Leafs will send Minnesota their own fourth-round pick in 2025. Right-wing prospect Josh Pillar is also heading from Minnesota to Toronto to complete the trade.
According to CapFriendly.com, O'Reilly's $7.5-million cap hit for the remainder of the season will be divided as follows. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
With this move, the Maple Leafs now have one of the more formidable centre units in the NHL and are clearly going all-in on competing for the Stanley Cup. In O'Reilly, Toronto is slotting in a former Conn Smythe and Selke Trophy winner who can play in all situations.
Now 32, O'Reilly is in the midst of a down season that's seen him only score 19 points in 40 games with a minus-24 rating on a Blues team that has disappointed this season. He missed the entire month of January with a broken foot but returned to play three games after the all-star break.
Acciari, 31, is an eight-year veteran in his first season with the Blues who will add depth and can kill penalties. In 54 games he has 10 goals and 18 points.
The move is the second major trade in a week for the Blues, who sent sniper Vladimir Tarasenko to the Rangers on Feb. 9. Tarasenko, O'Reilly and Acciari are all on expiring contracts and with the two trades, the Blues are waiving the white flag on the season.
St. Louis now owns three first-round picks in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, widely considered to be deep with talent, meaning they will have plenty of opportunities to add more young talent or swing other trades this summer.
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