Maple Leafs GM on Ryan O'Reilly Trade: 'We're Trying to Win, and That's the Message'

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas made it clear Saturday that the acquisition of forward Ryan O'Reilly from the St. Louis Blues was a move meant to aid in their pursuit of a Stanley Cup.

After news of the Maple Leafs trading for O'Reilly broke Friday night, Dubas told reporters:

"The team has been in the top five in the standings [before]; we're there again this year. When you're there, your goal I think has to be that you're trying to win. And if you're trying to win, you're trying to win the Stanley Cup. We're trying to win, and that's the message. Anything short of that, we'll all be disappointed."

Along with O'Reilly, the Maple Leafs also acquired forward Noel Acciari while sending their own 2023 first-round pick, the Ottawa Senators' 2023 third-round pick, their own 2024 second-round pick and forwards Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette to St. Louis.

The Minnesota Wild also got involved in the trade as a third team, taking on 25 percent of O'Reilly's salary and receiving a 2025 fourth-round pick from the Leafs. The Wild also sent minor league forward Josh Pillar to Toronto.

O'Reilly was acquired by the Blues ahead of the 2018/19 season, and he was paramount in St. Louis winning its first Stanley Cup in franchise history that year.

O'Reilly set career highs with 28 goals and 49 assists for 77 points in the regular season and then recorded 23 points in 26 playoff games, earning him the Conn Smythe Award as postseason MVP.

His production has dropped off since then, however, and he is arguably in the midst of the worst season of his career.

O'Reilly had between 54 and 61 points in three straight seasons from 2019 to 2022, and he was a cumulative plus-48 in those campaigns as well.

In 40 games this season, O'Reilly has just 12 goals and seven assists for 19 points, and he is a minus-24, which would be the worst mark of his 14-year career.

It is possible the 32-year-old veteran has fallen off and will never return to prominence, but the Leafs are hoping he has simply been the victim of a struggling team in St. Louis this season.

In Toronto, O'Reilly will have a far better supporting cast, headlined by Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Michael Bunting.

O'Reilly could either play on the wing on one of the Leafs' top two lines, or he could be the third-line center due to his two-way game and defensive responsibility.

Whatever the case, he brings a wealth of playoff experience to the table, and he knows what it takes to win a Cup, which is something Toronto has not experienced since 1967.

Despite consistently being among the NHL's most talented teams and near the top of the regular-season standings in recent years, the Maple Leafs have failed in the playoffs time and time again.

Toronto has reached the playoffs in six straight seasons without winning a series. In fact, the Leafs have not won a playoff series since 2004.

Entering play Saturday, the Leafs had 74 points on the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.

Dubas had to make a splashy move in order to get his team over the hump, and while it isn't guaranteed to happen, O'Reilly is precisely the type of player who tends to thrive in the playoff atmosphere.