The Chicago Blackhawks played and won on Friday night which was fun to watch. It was a thrilling overtime win for Chicago. Despite being in contention for the draft lottery, it is nice to see them feel good after a win every now and again.
However, not a single NHL game is going to be the biggest story now that this big trade was announced. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, and St. Louis Blues completed a blockbuster trade.
Ryan O’Reilly, alongside Noel Acciari, is headed to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, Toronto’s first-rounder in 2023, Ottawa’s third-rounder in 2023, and Toronto’s third-rounder in 2024. It is fair to call this a blockbuster deal.
The Wild facilitated the deal by taking a fourth found pick to retain 25 percent of O’Reilly’s contract. The Blues will retain 50 percent of it. This is only the seventh trade in NHL history where a team does what the Wild did.
The Chicago Blackhawks market has been helped by the Ryan O’Reilly trade.
Obviously, this changes the landscape of the entire league. Now, the Blues are down Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly which means they are full-blown sellers.
It also makes the Leafs a deeper, grittier hockey team which is what they desperately needed. They will have O’Reilly as their third center behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Few teams in the league can compete with a 1-2-3 like that. This is an amazing deal for them.
This move does help the Blackhawks too. It proves that big-money contracts can be moved if you are willing to take that risk. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are not immovable. They are also players that can return the Hawks a lot.
When you look at what the Blues got for O’Reilly with 75 percent of his contract retained, that is amazing for them as they start their retool (or rebuild, we will see). Maybe the Hawks can add another first-round pick or two for their stars.
This is just the beginning. The trade deadline, and the weeks leading up to it, are going to be crazy. This trade is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) so far this seasons.
Of course, O’Reilly and the Maple Leafs will play their first game together on Sunday night in Chicago. That will certainly be one that has everyone’s eyes on it.