The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten early returns from Ryan O’Reilly

Many people in the hockey world were intrigued by what Ryan O’Reilly would bring to the Toronto Maple Leafs after they acquired him and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 17, but I don’t think anyone expected what we saw last night in Buffalo.

The former Sabre O’Reilly lit up his old team with a hat trick and an assist, so he now has three goals and five points in three games as a Maple Leaf, slotting in between Mitch Marner and John Tavares on the second line.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli and analyst Mike McKenna talked more about O’Reilly and his hot start with the Leafs on Daily Faceoff Live.

Mike McKenna: You think about how strong the Leafs' spine is now, you’ve got O’Reilly at 70% since he’s been there, but in his career, he’s 55%. Go down the list, Tavares has played left wing with O’Reilly but he’s taken a bunch of draws this year at 58%, Matthews at 53%, Kampf at 52%. Even Noel Acciari, who they picked up, was at 54% with St. Louis. That’s a real strength for that club.

The part about O’Reilly that’s been intriguing to me is that head coach Sheldon Keefe has used O’Reilly as a centerman flanked by Marner and Tavares. And we might as well get used to hearing that, 'Tavares to Marner to O’Reilly.' It happened twice in 37 seconds against Buffalo to open up the first period, and they just look seamless. It’s really a modern-day look into how forwards play. Even though O’Reilly’s the center, all three of them are playing interchangeably.

But one thing post-game that caught my ear, Sheldon Keefe did say, “It’s a good sample of what we’re capable of, but I still feel we’re going to have John back at center.” So that caught my ear, I’m curious if O’Reilly stays second line or moves to the third line, how they mix and match, but right now, they’ve got O’Reilly going as a member of the Leafs. And to do it in Buffalo against his old team and have hats come out of the stands? Pretty awesome.

Frank Seravalli: Yeah, I think when you look at Ryan O’Reilly and what he’s added to Sheldon Keefe, it’s a limitless lineup card switcheroo. You can move any of these guys anywhere you want and find success, probably in pretty short order given the flexibility that this trade has provided you.

Since I’ve continued to trend on Twitter for the last number of days, to all the knuckle-draggers out there on social media, the early returns for Ryan O’Reilly are fantastic. There’s no doubt that he looks to be a good fit. Here’s all I’ll say, and I’ll remain consistent in that I don’t care if Ryan O’Reilly scores 60 goals between now and April 14th when the regular season ends, this trade and every other trade, every transaction and signing that the Toronto Maple Leafs have made will all be judged based on how this team performs in the playoffs.

You can watch the full episode here…