NEWARK, N.J. — Toronto Maple Leafs center Ryan O’Reilly will be out of action for quite some time because of a broken finger.
O’Reilly is going on long-term injured reserve, coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday. That means the 32-year-old must miss the next 10 games.
He won’t be eligible to return until Toronto’s game March 29 against Florida at the earliest. The playoffs are set to begin April 17.
The Maple Leafs acquired O’Reilly in a trade with St. Louis last month. He has since put up five points in eight games before taking a puck off his left hand late in the second period of a 4-1 loss Saturday night at Vancouver.
Keefe said that Leafs captain John Tavares will be held out of the lineup with an undisclosed ailment when the team visits the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday to wrap up a five-game road trip.
In corresponding moves earlier Monday, the Leafs recalled forwards Pontus Holmberg and Alex Steeves from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, and they loaned goaltender Joseph Woll to the club’s top affiliate.
O’Reilly was one of six new players Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas brought in before the trade deadline in an effort to make the team more competitive. A Stanley Cup winner and playoff MVP in 2019, O’Reilly won 84.4% of his faceoffs with the Leafs before going 3-of-11 against the Canucks.
Toronto is second in the Atlantic Division, five points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have lost five in a row and eight of their past 10 games. The Leafs and Lightning are on track to face each other in the first round of the playoffs.
