Ryan O'Reilly's dad shares text message he received from his son after he was traded to the Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs made the teams' biggest deadline acquisition in twenty years. Acquiring Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues for forwards Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette along with a 2023 first-round draft pick, Ottawa's 2023 third-round selection and the Leaf's' 2024 second-round choice to St. Louis as well as a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Minnesota Wild for retaining a percentage of O'Reilly's cap hit.
It's a steep price to pay for a proven winner in O'Reilly. Critics will talk about his down season and rightfully so. 12 goals, 20 points in 41 games and an ugly -24. I believe this trade will ignite the Ontario kid. His parents are from Toronto and he has plenty of family in the area.
When the trade went down Ryan texted his dad:
"�What if I help bring a #StanleyCup to Toronto?"
"Imagine?'"
I texted back & said:
«That's the right attitude to have!'»
Ryan's dad Brian is a personal trainer, life coach and counselor. Ryan spends his offseason doing training drills with his dad to keep sharp.
O'Reilly two sons Jameson and Declan are also very pumped to see dad in blue and white colors
As a Maple Leaf fan this deal is very exciting to see. It gives head coach Sheldon Keefe many options to mix and match upfront like he tends to do frequently. On Saturday night you saw this with the O'Reilly, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner combo. O'Reilly took most of the draws for the line going 12 for 14 on the night.
The real test will be in April against their likely first round opponent Tampa Bay Lightning but for the time being it will be fun to watch the two month try out.
| POLL | ||
Does Ryan O'Reilly finally push the Maple Leafs past their likely first round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning? | ||
| Yes, this is the year | 50 | 23.6 % |
| No, the curse continues | 88 | 41.5 % |
| O Ry helps but still need an upgrade on defence | 74 | 34.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
