Leaf Forward undergoes surgery, Keefe provides update on possible return date

Ryan O'Reilly was seen leaving Vancouver with a splint on his finger following the Leafs' 4-1 loss to the Canucks on Saturday night and was placed on LTIR yesterday, meaning he would be out a minimum of 10 games/27 days. Today, the Leafs announced that O'Reilly had surgery on his broken finger to repair the damage and is expected to be out at least four weeks.

If O'Reilly is out for the four weeks he would be returning on April 4th against Columbus and would be able to play the last 6 games of the Leafs' season, meaning he would have the chance to get back into game-shape before the playoffs. This is the second significant injury O'Reilly has suffered this season, as he had recently returned from a broken foot that kept him out of the lineup for six weeks prior to being traded to Toronto.

We have seen plenty of players come back well before their reported return date, or before they should be back (see Nazem Kadri in the playoffs), but the Leafs have always been cautious when dealing with significant injuries, so I wouldn't expect O'Reilly to return before the 4-week mark. Prior to arriving in Toronto, O'Reilly had just 19 points in 40 games with St. Louis, and had 5 points in 8 games with the Leafs before his injury Saturday.