As the Maple Leafs undergo a retooling this summer following another failed attempt to reach the Eastern Conference Final, there have been some questions around the future of defenseman Morgan Rielly. Their longest-tenured player and highest-paid rearguard carries a full no-move clause for the five years remaining on his contract, though. At least this summer, Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has no intention of asking him to waive it, Pierre LeBrun said on TSN’s Insider Trading yesterday.
“He loves being a Leaf… I don’t think that needs to be a talking point going forward here,” LeBrun said. There have been questions about nearly every player on Toronto’s roster, not just because of their playoff record, but because this will be the first summer with Treliving in full control of the Leafs’ hockey operations decisions. While he’s entering his third season as Toronto’s GM, it’s his first without the oversight of president Brendan Shanahan, whom the organization said earlier this month won’t be retained.
Treliving pledged “DNA changes” during his end-of-season media availability, but it appears that’s less referring to the 31-year-old Rielly compared to the likelihood of letting star winger Mitch Marner walk in free agency. Rielly had a difficult start to the season under new head coach Craig Berube, posting 19 points and a -10 rating through his first 41 games. He improved to 22 points and a plus-two rating in the second half of the year, though, and didn’t miss a game all season. In the playoffs, Rielly recorded points in the first three games of both the first and second round but failed to get on the scoresheet later on in each series. He had a playoff-low minus-three rating in Toronto’s season-ending Game 7 loss to the Panthers.
While the Leafs now have plenty of efficient contracts on defense with Treliving’s work over the past few years, Rielly’s isn’t one of them. Calling him a No. 1 defenseman on a championship-contending team is a bit of a stretch, especially for a player whose calling card has always been his offensive skill and point production. His 0.50 points per game last season were his worst output in seven years, and his 21:23 average ice time per game was his lowest since the 2014-15 campaign. Jake McCabe actually led Toronto’s blue line in ATOI by a slim margin this year, the first time since 2017-18 that Rielly hasn’t been the Leafs’ most-used defender on a nightly basis.
A $7.5MM cap hit isn’t a drastic overpay for someone who still has legitimate rebound potential to the 50-60 point range, but the five years remaining on his contract might have limited his trade market even if he was willing to waive his NMC. Regardless, if the Leafs have plans of acquiring a new top defenseman this summer, they’ll need to do it by leveraging someone other than Rielly.
Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.