The Islanders kicked things off with their trade for then-Canucks captain Bo Horvat, and the Rangers countered with their move to add Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis. And now the Eastern Conference arms race has made its way to the Atlantic, as the Maple Leafs pulled off an absolute blockbuster of a deal late Friday night.

In a three-team trade involving the Wild (they played the role of salary broker for Toronto) and Blues, the Maple Leafs pulled the trigger on a deal to bring forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari to Toronto.

To make that happen, the Leafs parted with six assets in total, headlined by a 2023 first-round pick, as well as a 2024 second-round pick, and a 2023 third-round pick (originally belonging to Ottawa) all going to St. Louis. In addition to the picks, the Leafs sent forward prospect Mikhail Abramov and minor-league forward Adam Gaudette to the Blues, while the Wild picked up a 2025 fourth-round pick from the Leafs for retaining money on the deal.

SHEESH.

• 

  ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 07: Ryan O’Reilly #90 of the St. Louis Blues looks on during the first period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on November 07, 2021 in Anaheim, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

• The Blues’ captain for the last three seasons, O’Reilly departs St. Louis in the midst of a season that’s come with 12 goals and 19 points, along with a minus-24 rating, in 40 games.

  The dip in production is an obvious deviation from the norm O’Reilly had established in St. Louis, but O’Reilly’s underlying metrics do paint the picture of a player who has been painfully unlucky this season. (And that’s without getting into the foot injury that knocked him out of action for a month and a half.)

  Beyond the point totals and ugly plus-minus, it’s worth mentioning that the lefty-shooting O’Reilly did remain an effective faceoff option for Craig Berube’s squad, with a team-best 54.2 faceoff percentage and the second-most faceoff wins on the team (385).

  There’s also no denying the impact O’Reilly made throughout his St. Louis tenure, with 97 goals and 269 points in 327 career regular-season games with the Blues, including a Selke Trophy win in 2019, as well as a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy victory when the Blues upset the Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

  Overall, the 32-year-old O’Reilly was a playoff force throughout his time with the Blues, with 49 points in 51 playoff games throughout his time in St. Louis.

• Ryan O'Reilly, acquired by TOR, is a top six two-way playmaking centre who typically has a very strong defensive impact. His production is down this year but he's still creating chances at a high rate. Big statement for the Leafs. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/hsQU5qzmGK

  — JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 18, 2023

• With O’Reilly in town, a fully healthy Toronto squad will feature a formidable center grouping that includes Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and O’Reilly. In that order, that’s a damn good group.

  The mere sight of O’Reilly is also probably enough to trigger some bad vibes from the TD Garden stands, too, as O’Reilly was a matchup nightmare for (an injured) Patrice Bergeron during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

  O’Reilly also immediately becomes the Leafs’ most successful playoff performer, too, as his 56 career playoff points is a staggering 20 points more than John Tavares.

• 

  Jun 1, 2019; St. Louis, MO, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) and St. Louis Blues center Ryan O’Reilly (90) attempt to control the puck during the opening face-off of the second period in game three of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final at Enterprise Center. (Billy Hurst/USA TODAY Sports)

• Acciari, meanwhile, will jump from St. Louis to Toronto after scoring 10 goals and 18 points in 54 appearances with the Blues. The 31-year-old Acciari also remained his hit-friendly self in St. Louis, with 168 hits, which was tops among all St. Louis skaters and ranked 10th in the entire NHL for that mater.

  Acciari was also the Blues’ most-deployed penalty-killing forward at the time of his trade, with over 89 minutes of shorthanded time on ice to his name this season.

  The Rhode Island native is more than familiar to Bruins fans, of course, as he spent the first four years of his NHL career with the Black and Gold.

  Since leaving the Bruins, the 5-foot-11 righty has scored 37 goals and 64 points in 181 games between the Panthers and Blues, and has appeared in 19 postseason games with the Panthers.

• 

  ST LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 29: Jake Allen #34 of the Montreal Canadiens makes a save against Noel Acciari #52 of the St. Louis Blues during the first period of the game at Enterprise Center on October 29, 2022. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

• One thing you can say about the Leafs after these moves is that they are a notably deeper team, especially at the center position, which seems like a must given what the Leafs are going to have go through in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference playoff structure.

  The addition of both O’Reilly and Acciari should also provide a lift to what’s been a middle-of-the-pack penalty-killing unit, which is a must considering Tampa Bay’s power-play success at home and how the Black and Gold’s power play has clicked when the team is operating at full health.

  It also brings the proverbial arms race to the Atlantic Division, as it’ll be downright fascinating to see how (and if) the Bruins and Lightning respond to the additions Kyle Dubas made to his team.

  It’s certainly worth mentioning that a first-round date between the Leafs and Lightning is borderline locked in, as they would need a monumental collapse by the first-place Bruins to jump into the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic, while the fourth-place team in the Atlantic (the Panthers) begins Saturday 11 points out of third place and with four more games played than the Lightning.

  The 2023 NHL trade deadline is set for Mar. 3.

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