O'Reilly finally addresses whether or not he'd like to remain in Toronto beyond this season

When the news dropped late in the evening on Friday, February 17th that the Leafs had landed Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari in a 3-team trade with the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild, there was an aura of excitement in the air. Finally, a true impact piece coming in to help the team get over the hump in the playoffs. However, when the veteran forward suffered a broken finger, sidelining him for a month, the buzz died down for awhile. Now that he has returned, finishing his regular season tenure with the Leafs with 11 points in 13 games and a +3 rating, all eyes are on the postseason and what should be a very entertaining 1st round matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

O'Reilly's status as a pending UFA meant that there was always a risk that he would depart via free agency this summer. The Leafs don't have a lot of cap space to work with in order to fill out the roster next year, but some changes are expected and there is always the possibility that O'Reilly may be willing to take a pay cut to continue playing at home and for a top team in the league to increase his odds of competing for future Stanley Cups, regardless of what happens in this year's playoffs.

There hasn't been much actual contract extension talk surrounding O'Reilly and the Leafs, with Kyle Dubas famously stating after the acquisition that both sides want to live together for awhile before they get married, so to speak. This leads us to believe that any extension talks may wait until the offseason. However, O'Reilly was recently asked about his time thus far in Toronto and had nothing but great things to say.

"It's impressive. I always knew there was lots of staff here and resources. Getting here and seeing it firsthand, it's at first a little overwhelming. Once you kind of get a handle and get to know everyone, it's pretty amazing, the help that you have to assist your play. Like myself coming back from injury and just every facet of your meals to everything. It's just so elite and above everything I've seen before."


When asked whether or not these things might influence his decision when it comes time to negotiate a new contract, O'Reilly's response was very telling. He has loved his time in Toronto thus far and we now have confirmation that he may be interested in returning next season.

"Yeah. Obviously, yeah, that's for sure. We got playoffs still to come, but, yeah, there's not a bad thing I can say for this organization. They do everything the right way, and if something doesn't work here, they're changing, right? They're always looking at ways to get better. And that's the reason why it is such an amazing franchise."

How's that for some exciting news on a Saturday??

After a day off on Friday, the Leafs are expected to get back to work on Saturday, as the real test begins on Tuesday for Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.