The Canadiens were in on the Ryan O’Reilly trade but it all fell though in Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens are expected to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline, but were almost facilitators in a blockbuster move that took place earlier this month.

Last Friday, late at night, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had acquired St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly and forward Noel Acciari in a blockbuster three-team trade also involving the Minnesota Wild.

During Tuesday night’s broadcast as the Canadiens took on the New Jersey Devils, insider Arpon Basu revealed how the Habs were in on the O’Reilly trade as they wanted to help facilitate like the Wild did. Their involvement however fell through because with all the injuries as players that are injured count against the cap as do players that have come in to replace them. The Canadiens lost cap flexibility and could not get involved in the three-team trade.

The Wild was the one who came in to facilitate the trade for the Maple Leafs, retaining 25 per cent of O’Reilly’s total salary as an intermediary in the trade. In exchange, the Maple Leafs sent Minnesota their own fourth-round pick in 2025. Right-wing prospect Josh Pillar was also sent from Minnesota to Toronto to complete the trade. Minnesota therefore retains 50% of the $3.75M ($1.875M) of O’Reilly’s $7.5-million cap hit for the remainder of the season.

Maybe it’s better this way for Montreal. It would have been weird to see the Canadiens help out their long-time rivals to get them a huge boost for the postseason…

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