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I'm sure Sheldon Keefe is glad to have all of the Leafs' deadline pickups, but one stands out among the rest in his eyes

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Mike Armenti
April 7, 2023 (4:26 PM)

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When the Leafs pulled the trigger on a high-profile deal to bring in former St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly, there was immediate excitement among the fanbase and among the locker room. After all, O'Reilly was a Selke Trophy winner, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner and a Stanley Cup Champion.

That excitement quickly dissipated when O'Reilly, in just his 8th game as a Leaf, took a shot off of his hand from Auston Matthews, which left him with a broken finger so severe that it required surgery to repair, resulting in a month on LTIR, just as he was getting into the swing of things with his new teammates.

Well, O'Reilly finally made his triumphant return last night against the league-leading Boston Bruins - not exactly the opponent you want for your first game coming back. However, O'Reilly not only returned, but looked very solid against the Bruins. He didn't register any shots, hits or points, but he was playing some sound positional hockey, winning important faceoffs, and making life difficult for the Bruins' top players.

Following the game, a 2-1 loss in OT unfortunately, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media about O'Reilly's return, admitting that he was blown away by the veteran forward after having missed so much time. It looked like O'Reilly hadn't skipped a beat. Here's what Keefe had to say.

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"He was great. Against an opponent like that tonight, you need to have playoff-like habits. Whether it is his first game or not, he just comes in and plays the game with the same intelligence. He put the puck to good spots. He was good on the battle. He was really good today. I thought his minutes were a little low in the first period, so I tried to get them up a little bit higher. We don't have a lot of time to get him back up to speed in terms of conditioning. I tried to double him up and get him back out there. I thought he dealt with all of it well. It is great to have him." - Keefe on how well O'Reilly played in his return from injury

Another reason why O'Reilly is so important to the team is what he does when he's not on the ice. O'Reilly is constantly doing what he can to try to rally his teammates and create some extra motivation on the bench and in the locker room, behind the scenes. As a former captain and one of the hardest-working players in the NHL, it's nothing Sheldon Keefe didn't expect from O'Reilly coming in, but he acknowledged that aspect of O'Reilly's game last night as well.

"He is the most vocal guy we have on the bench. He is talking non-stop. It is just a great presence for us. It makes a big difference having him in there." - Keefe on O'Reilly being the team's conscience, so to speak

It's still early to discuss whether or not the Leafs should extend O'Reilly, but I certainly wouldn't mind having a player like that around to set the right example for our current star players and all of the young guys who are expected to be coming up in the seasons ahead.

Previously on MapleLeafsDaily

Sheldon Keefe blown away by the way one of his lines has been playing of late and it's not either of the top two lines

Sheldon Keefe makes surprising comment about Ilya Samsonov after tough loss in Boston

Injury timing awful for the Lightning; Bolts ravaged by a string of injuries right before playoff series against the Leafs

POLL
7 AVRIL \| 197 ANSWERS I'm sure Sheldon Keefe is glad to have all of the Leafs' deadline pickups, but one stands out among the rest in his eyes Would you like to see Ryan O'Reilly extended in Toronto?
Yes	183	92.9 %
No	10	5.1 %
Not if he's taking ice time from young players	4	2 %
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