Ryan O'Reilly comments on his first visit back to Toronto this weekend

The Predators signed O'Reilly to a 4-year deal on July 1st, which carries a $4.5M cap hit. The deal has been a homerun so far for GM Barry Trotz and the Predators. O'Reilly is second on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 22 points in 25 games played.

The Clinton, Ontario native joined Nick Alberga & Jay Rosehill of Leafs Morning Take this morning, where he was asked about his return to play in front of the home fans in Toronto.

O'Reilly was acquired by the Leafs in February, but he spent a month on the sidelines after breaking his finger early on in his tenure in Toronto. In the end, O'Reilly played just 13 regular season games as a Leaf and added another 11 postseason contests before the Leafs were eliminated by the Panthers in Round 2 of the playoffs.

O'Reilly did express how excited he was to return to Toronto this weekend to take on his former team and plans to try to pick up where he left off on October 28th, when his Predators beat the Leafs 3-2 in overtime in Nashville. O'Reilly had a pair of goals in that game, with captain Roman Josi scoring the eventual winner in extra time. O'Reilly promised that he'll have a little extra pep in his step on Saturday night in front of his family and friends at Scotiabank Arena.

O'Reilly quickly became a fan favourite in Toronto with how hard he plays, his leadership qualities, and all the many intangibles in his game that every successful team needs. It's hard not to root for a guy like that, except, of course, when he's playing against the Maple Leafs.