The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up a ransom to acquire Ryan O'Reilly in their failed pursuit of the Stanley Cup. Giving up a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick for O'Reilly was a worthy gamble which saw him post 11 points in 13 regular season games with the Leafs and 9 more in 11 playoff games.
However, this past offseason he departed from Toronto for a quieter Nashville market. When asked about why he left he said the following.
The Toronto spotlight and media drove O'Reilly away from the franchise which is completely understandable. Some love the attention but others are more discrete and prefer to be left alone. In Nashville, O'Reilly will not get mobbed when getting groceries.
While O'Reilly prefers to stay out of the spotlight, he will get a large role with the Nashville Predators.
Nashville is going through a culture change and will look to make the playoffs again with the help of O'Reilly.
He will look to bounce back to his 2018-19 Conn Smyth winning form where he won the Cup and registered 77 points in 82 games.
As seen on Hockey Patrol - Former Leaf Ryan O'Reilly reveals the real reason why he left Toronto
POLL | ||
Will O'Reilly have more success than he did in Toronto in Nashville? | ||
Yes | 212 | 75.7 % |
No | 68 | 24.3 % |
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