Ryan O'Reilly was reportedly involved in trade process and chose Toronto over another location

The early response to the trade has been overwhelmingly positive from Leafs Nation, despite the fact that Kyle Dubas went against what he had said last week, which was that he did not plan to part with his 1st round pick for a rental player. There have been some rumours that O'Reilly may be extended at some point and will remain in Toronto past this season, but with no extension announcement yet, he is still a rental.. for now.

As for how the trade came together, the Leafs have been linked to O'Reilly at multiple points this season, but according to TSN's Carlo Colaiacovo, who played for both the Blues and the Leafs, it was actually Ryan O'Reilly who chose his own destination. Per Colaiacovo, once the Blues decided to sell, they involved O'Reilly and his family in the decision.

O'Reilly, a native of Southern Ontario, chose to come home and Kyle Dubas and Doug Armstrong quickly got to work on finding a package that worked for both sides. The end result was a package that included a 2023 1st round pick, a 2024 2nd round pick, a 2023 3rd round pick (OTT), prospect Mikhail Abramov and depth forward Adam Gaudette. The Blues agreed to retain 50% of O'Reilly's $7.5M cap hit and the Leafs also paid the Minnesota Wild a 2025 4th rounder to retain some salary on O'Reilly to make the money work.

O'Reilly having his pick of the litter and choosing Toronto is about more than just playing closer to home. He'll now have an excellent opportunity to challenge for another Stanley Cup, playing alongside the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Reilly. The Leafs may have just found their missing piece.