The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without one of their newest acquisitions for the foreseeable future but expect to have him back well before the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without one of their newest acquisitions for the foreseeable future but expect to have him back well before the playoffs.
NEWARK, N.J. — The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Ryan O’Reilly until at least Mar. 29 with a broken finger, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed on Monday.
"We'll get him up and running as soon as we can," Keefe said.
There is no exact timeline for how long O'Reilly will be out of the lineup, although Keefe said the veteran is expected to be back before the playoffs begin.
"When you get him you get excited and you what he can bring so to lose him is tough and disappointing," Keefe said. "We've acquired him to be healthy (and) ready to go for the playoffs and that will be the case."
O'Reilly flew to Toronto to see a specialist to determine the severity of his injury and how long the veteran player will be out of the lineup. He was the victim of some friendly fire as he tried to get out of the way of a shot from the slot by Auston Matthews.
It probably didn't help that Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes slashed at O'Reilly's injured hands moments after the veteran forward took the puck off the hand.
The Maple Leafs' acquisition of O'Reilly was their 'big name' get in a series of five trades that saw many new players join the club ahead of their playoff run. They picked up the 2019 Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner from the St. Louis Blues along with center Noel Acciari in exchange for four draft picks including a first-rounder, prospect Mikhail Abramaov and forward Adam Gaudette.
The 32-year-old O'Reilly has three goals and two assists in eight games with Toronto.
Roster implications
O'Reilly's stint to long-term injured reserve was evident when the Leafs called up both forwards Alex Steeves and Pontus Holmberg from the Toronto Marlies before practice began.
Both Steeves and Holmberg skated on a line with Michael Bunting at practice on Monday and they will be in the lineup when the Maple Leafs visit the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Maple Leafs captain John Tavares will miss the game as he is not "feeling great" according to Keefe.