*Photo from The Athletic*
There's a shakeup happening in the music city. The Nashville Predators and C Ryan O'Reilly have agreed to a 4 year, $18 million contract, according to Pierre Lebrun of TSN. The deal has been confirmed by the Predators.
Nashville GM Barry Trotz said of O'Reilly that "I can tell you this: Ryan O'Reilly is the first guy probably at the rink every morning. I haven't had him full time. I've just done some tournament-based things with him. He's the first guy at the rink, the first guy on the ice, the last guy off the ice. This guy, he loves the game. To me, you want guys that love to compete, love the game and we've got a bunch of them here."
The contract for O'Reilly runs through the end of the 2026-2027 season. It has a $4.5 million AAV for O'Reilly, who will turn 33 during the season. At the trade deadline, O'Reilly was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a 3 team trade with the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
Last season was O'Reilly's 14th in the NHL. Combined between the Blues and Maple Leafs, O'Reilly scored 16 goals and added 14 assists, posting a -21 rating with an average ice time of 17:56 in 53 games. He added 3 goals and 6 assists in 11 playoff games for the Maple Leafs.
Trotz said of O'Reilly's game that "What areas does he not affect? He has an effect on the offensive zone. He has an effect on the defensive zone. He has an effect in the face-off circle. He has effect in late-game situations offensively and defensively. People follow him. People do the things that are not always easy to do, to win. He does that all over the ice."
O'Reilly was chosen by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the 2009 NHL Draft. He debuted in 2009-2010 with 8 goals and 18 assists in his rookie season. He won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in the 2018-2019 postseason with the Blues.
Across his 14 seasons, O'Reilly has played for the Avalanche, Blues, Maple Leafs, and Buffalo Sabres. He has 256 goals and 446 assists, averaging 19:35 of ice time per game with a -4 rating in 991 regular season games. O'Reilly also has 25 goals and 40 assists over an average 20:59 of ice time in 75 playoff games.
Shaking up their depth at center, the Predators traded Ryan Johansen to the Avalanche and bought out Matt Duchene. O'Reilly will now become a top six option at center for the Predators and head coach Andrew Brunette.
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