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Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Bring Back Ryan O’Reilly?

By Cristian Battaglia |
Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during Game Two of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 4, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during Game Two of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 4, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

When the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the St. Louis Blues back in February, it came out of nowhere for some.

There had been rumours circulating that thele Toronto Map Leafs were interested in the former Stanley Cup champion, but it was still shocking when they traded for him.

O’Reilly was in the final year of his seven-year, $52.5 million dollar contract that was signed back in 2015 when he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres, so it was assumed that he will only be a pure rental for the Leafs.

The 32-year-old played 13 regular season games with the Leafs, registering 11 points. He also missed some time with a broken finger, keeping him sidelined for about a month.

The Leafs season came to an end in the second round to the Stanley Cup finalist, Florida Panthers. 

O’Reilly is a pending UFA and is expected to hit the open market on July 1st, however a return to the blue and white is still possible. But the question is, can the Toronto Maple Leafs bring him back?

How Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Make The Money Work?

There is no question that whoever secures Ryan O’Reilly’s services for next season will have to pay a good amount of money to do so.

The Leafs are projected to have just over $9 million in cap space this summer, which is not much considering they still have to resign RFA Ilya Samsonov to a contract as well as other UFA’s to fill the roles of departing players.

Personally one way to fix the issue is by trading Matt Murray. The injury issues for the former two-time Stanley Cup winner hurt the Leafs chances to make other signings with Murray making over $4.5 million next season. That is just way too much to be the backup to Samsonov.

By trading Murray to a team like Chicago or Arizona, who are in desperate need to reach the cap floor, you give yourself a better chance of resigning O’Reilly, while also making other signings to round out the depth of this team.

O’Reilly is a player that is so experienced, you simply can not let him walk into free agency. He is a guy that can do it all and has proven so in his time with the Avalanche, Sabres, Blues and the Leafs.

dark. Next. 3 UFAs the Leafs Could Sign

The only question is, how do the Toronto Maple Leafs want to make the money work.

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