O'Reilly trade already making huge difference for Maple Leafs

BUFFALO -- Ryan O'Reilly watched the hats rain down onto the ice at KeyBank Center in his honor and momentarily wondered if this was all a dream.

Here he was, about 96 hours after he and center Noel Acciari had been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs by the St. Louis Blues, and he already had five points (three goals, two assists) in his first three games in blue and white. The coup de grace: His fourth career NHL hat trick in a 6-3 Maple Leafs victory at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, causing the thousands of Toronto fans who had made the two-hour drive south for the game to shower the rink with various headgear.
"It's been crazy but there's been a lot of adrenaline too," the 32-year-old center said. "I mean, it's still a little surreal. Putting on this sweater and being on this team, I mean, I've still got to pinch myself at times."
Traded to Toronto on Friday, the impact the native of Clinton, Ontario, has had on his new team already is tangible. And it gives his teammates, the coaching staff and management reason to be optimistic moving forward.
O'Reilly (three goals, one assist) and linemates Mitch Marner (five assists) and John Tavares (one goal, three assists) combined for 13 points Tuesday. When asked if he'd ever been on a line that had accrued that many in one game, he chuckled.
"I haven't," he said. "But I can tell you it's a lot of fun, that's for sure."
Not just for him.
Consider this: Center Auston Matthews, the defending Hart Trophy winner, voted as NHL most valuable player, was held pointless. It didn't matter. Toronto was still able to score a half-dozen goals.
Such are the riches and flexibility Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe now has, and it's enough to make him smile at all the combinations he has at his disposal.
O'Reilly's role as center on the line has pushed Tavares to left wing. If he so chooses, Keefe can move the captain back to center and put O'Reilly at center on the third line, replacing David Kampf. Alex Kerfoot and William Nylander can also play center, giving Toronto the type of depth it hasn't had since the 1-2-3 punch of Matthews, Tavares and Nazem Kadri before the latter was traded to Colorado on July 1, 2019.

Given the fact there is a good chance the Maple Leafs will once again face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup First Round, the strength at center will be key. The Lightning boast one of the best group of centers in the League in Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli, so the addition of O'Reilly has Toronto in better position to offset what was a distinct Tampa Bay advantage in their seven-game victory in the opening round last season.
Keefe has 24 games remaining before the postseason to tinker, and that includes how to deploy Acciari.
The 31-year-old has been a disruptive force with his physical play and his penchant for going into the greasy areas in front of the net. That style produced his first goal with the Maple Leafs in a 5-3 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and has sent a message to the team's other bottom-six forwards that there will be competition for playing time.
Suddenly, Toronto has the type of versatility in its lineup that Keefe hasn't had since replacing Mike Babcock as coach on Nov. 20, 2019.
He said he couldn't sleep after the trade was made official late Friday. The new possibilities involving various line combinations, he said, danced through his head and kept him awake. By Saturday morning, when O'Reilly and Acciari were on a flight from St. Louis to Toronto, Keefe was meeting with Tavares about shifting to wing.
Tavares, to his credit, was all in, a team-first decision from a player who has spent most of his 1,007-game NHL career at center.
Prior to the victory against the Sabres, Tavares said he felt the line was "getting close" to clicking after being together the previous two games. He proved to be prophetic.
Just 7:14 into the game, the Tavares-O'Reilly-Marner line had already combined for nine points (three each) and was responsible for all the scoring en route to a 3-0 lead. O'Reilly opened the scoring with his first two goals with the Maple Leafs, those coming 37 seconds apart, and Tavares extended Toronto's advantage 2:46 later.
For Keefe, who watched O'Reilly (two goals, one assist), Tavares (one goal, two assists) and Marner (three assists) rocket his team out front like that before the first period was even half over, the lineup experiment could not have gone any better.
"That line, and our team in general, our team game in that first period, that's as dominant as we've been all season long," he said, adding later that "as I said to the guys, that's what we're supposed to look like."
Thanks in part to the captain buying in.
"Each and every game, I'm feeling better and better," Tavares said of his position change. "A little less thinking. It just becomes a habit and instinctive."
Tavares said the biggest difference for him between wing and center is there now requires more time in puck battles along the boards. Judging by Tuesday, so far, so good.
Earlier in the day, Keefe had said the shift of positions was not a one-off; that he wanted to see how the unit jelled. Ten hours later, he left the door open.
"I still feel, at the end of the day, we're going to have John at center," he said.
Maybe. But when? And for how long?
Thanks to the addition of O'Reilly, it's a pleasant dilemma for the coach to have.