The Maple Leafs have made their big move as they try to close the gap on the league-leading Bruins and win a playoff series for the first time since 2004.
Toronto announced Friday night that it has acquired forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for four draft picks and two minor-leaguers. Both the Blues and the Minnesota Wild are retaining part of O'Reilly's salary in the three-team deal.
O'Reilly, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when the Blues beat Boston for the Stanley Cup in 2019, has had a down season while battling injury. He has 12 goals and seven assists in 40 games, but he does have three points in three games since returning from a broken foot.
If O'Reilly gets back to his typical form, he could be a massive upgrade for the Leafs as either a third-line center or a top-six left wing.
As for Acciari, Bruins fans obviously know him well, as he spent his first four NHL seasons in Boston from 2015-19. He has 10 goals and eight assists in 54 games this season and could be a bottom-six upgrade for Toronto who will bring some physicality.
The Leafs are currently in second place in the Atlantic Division, 13 points behind the Bruins. While the B's don't appear to be in any danger of losing the division lead any time soon, the Leafs have definitely set themselves up to be a more formidable foe in a potential second-round series -- if they can get by Tampa Bay first. Their goaltending remains a question mark, but they definitely strengthened a forward group that was looking thinner than some offenses they've had in the past.
The Blues, meanwhile, have now traded away four players in the past week, with at least one more likely still to come. And it's a player the Bruins have been linked to: forward Ivan Barbashev.
We broke down the possibility of Boston trading for Barbashev here:
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