Breaking: Sheldon Keefe confirms when O'Reilly and Acciari will make their Leafs debuts
Late last night, the Leafs pulled off a blockbuster trade, acquiring a pair of battle-tested forwards in Ryan O'Reilly (75% retained salary) and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues for 4 draft picks, prospect Mikhail Abramov and depth forward Adam Gaudette. The trade came through at nearly 11pm, which left many, including Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, unable to sleep.
Keefe and multiple Leafs players were outwardly excited by the news that O'Reilly and Acciari are now Leafs on Saturday, but the big question on everyone's minds is "when will they make their Leafs debuts?". Well, we now have our answer and, much to everyone's delight, we won't have to wait long.
Per Keefe, both O'Reilly and Acciari are currently "in the air" and are expected to play tonight against the Canadiens on Hockey Night in Canada. Keefe also revealed that he had spoken with both players already and that they were "adamant" about playing immediately. These guys are hungry to get in there, meet their new teammates and grow accustomed to the new system and begin to build some chemistry with their linemates.
With both of the Leafs' newest acquisitions pushing to play right away, there is an aura of excitement in the air in Leafs Nation. As far as where they'll play, I think it's a reasonable expectation that Acciari will likely start on the 4th line and go from there. O'Reilly is a bit more of a curious case, as he can play both wing and center, but certainly excels at center with his affinity for winning faceoffs. I'd guess that we'll see him taking shifts both on the 2nd line LW and as the team's 3C tonight as Keefe will want to get a few different looks to see where he likes him best.
| POLL | ||
18 FEVRIER | 270 ANSWERS Breaking: Sheldon Keefe confirms when O'Reilly and Acciari will make their Leafs debuts Will Ryan O'Reilly score tonight in his Leafs debut against the Canadiens? | ||
| Yes | 184 | 68.1 % |
| No | 86 | 31.9 % |
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