Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan O’Reilly underwent successful surgery on his injured finger today according to head coach Sheldon Keefe.
O’Reilly, 32, was hit in the hand by an Auston Matthews shot in the 2nd period of the Leafs 4-1 loss to Vancouver on Saturday. The injury caused a fractured finger, and will reportedly keep him out of the line up for the next 4 weeks.
As a result, Toronto has placed the former Selke Award winner on injured reserve, meaning he will be sidelined until the end of March at the earliest. In 8 games since being acquired from St. Louis, the Clinton, ON native has recorded 5pts (3G, 2A) as the Leafs have gone 5-3 during that span.
Speaking to the media at practice Monday Keefe told reporters “When you get him, you get excited and you know what he can bring so to lose him, certainly, is tough and disappointing, but we’ve acquired him to be healthy and ready to go for the playoffs and that will be the case. So, to that end, you know, it’s not bad in terms of what the bigger picture is. And, with the nature of the injury, he won’t miss much time actually on the ice and skating.”
Should O’Reilly’s recovery timeline hold, that will give him roughly 2 weeks to get back up to game speed before the playoffs begin. Toronto currently sits 2nd in the Atlantic behind the league leading Bruins with 84 points.
The Maple Leafs are next in action Tuesday vs. the New Jersey Devils.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner