Insider Believes Another Pending UFA Will End Up Pricing Himself Out Of Toronto

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button believes another one of Toronto's pending UFAs could end up pricing himself out of the city.

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2023/06/maple-leafs-notes-assistant-coach-schenn-oreilly.html

Button thinks Ryan O'Reilly should be able to fetch a three-year contract on the open market with a cap hit of around $5.5 million. Could this be too rich to keep him in the blue and white long-term?

The 32 year old Clinton Ontario native enjoyed his time with the Leafs, scoring 4 goals and 11 points in 13 regular season games and 3 goals and 9 points in 11 playoff games.

After having a bit of a down year before the trade, O'Reilly reminded the league just how useful he can still be. O'Reilly's greatest gift is his ability to play in all situations. He has great offensive instincts but is also very defensively aware which makes him a valuable asset on the penalty kill.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe relied heavily on O'Reilly in the playoffs. He was third among forwards in ice time with 19:49. Only superstars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner played more.

If the man nicknamed "Factor" could take a little bit of a hometown discount, he could still be a great asset to the team on a short-term deal. His footspeed is declining but his off the charts hockey awareness makes up for a lot of his shortcomings.

Would you like to see O'Reilly and Toronto work something out?