Breaking News - Toronto Maple Leafs forward forced to undergo significant surgery

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Josh tupper
March 7, 2023 (12:23)

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When the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Ryan O'Reilly the hopes were he'd be the missing piece for their Stanley Cup run. The center is a former Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and one of the few players who performs better during the playoffs than during the regular season.

Saturday night though, those plans were derailed after an Auston Matthews' shot struck O'Reilly directly in the hand. O'Reilly immediately grimaced and left the ice, he would not return for the 3rd period. Yesterday the Maple Leafs placed O'Reilly on long-term injured reserve with a broken finger.

The Maple Leafs provided few details on the injury and today we found out why. According to Joshua Kloke of The Athletic, O'Reilly's injury was worse than originally stated.

Ryan O'Reilly had successful surgery on his finger this morning per Sheldon Keefe. His timeline to return is four weeks.

The expected return date for O'Reilly should be the beginning of April approximately a week ahead of the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. If this were the playoffs it is unlikely that O'Reilly would miss as much time, but given the regular season he should be able to fully nurse this injury. During last year's playoffs Nazem Kadri returned from a similar injury after just 11 days.

The Maple Leafs must hope that O'Reilly is able to return, or the assets they paid to obtain him will be wasted, similar to those paid for Nick Foligno.