The Toronto Maple Leafs were looking for suitable trade offers for Morgan Rielly this off-season, but nothing came to fruition. GM John Chayka explains why.
Trade rumors surrounding Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly lasted through a large chunk of this NHL off-season.
With a couple of down seasons for the Maple Leafs' longest-active player on the roster, there was some thought that the team and Rielly would pursue the possibility of a change of scenery.
Rielly was ready for that possibility, with his representative providing a short list of Western Conference teams, should a trade offer come to fruition. However, Rielly waiving his full no-move clause never had to happen because there hasn't been a sufficient trade package to emerge.
"At no point did we ever have what I would characterize as a serious trade opportunity with Morgan Rielly," Maple Leafs GM John Chayka told The Athletic.
Though Rielly's performance has dipped under former head coach Craig Berube, he's still a serviceable NHL defenseman, suited for middle-pairing minutes.
With Rielly still having an important role on the team, Chayka wasn't going to simply give away the 32-year-old defenseman for some assets that don't match his value, or even provide sweeteners in the deal.
After all, his contract isn't much of a back-breaker these days, thanks to the rising salary cap. Rielly earns $7.5 million against the cap and still has four more years left on that agreement, taking him to 36 when his contract expires following 2029-30.
Trading away Rielly for futures, or assets that can't help improve the roster, doesn't help the Maple Leafs. Chayka realizes that and also understands the value that Rielly can still bring to the team's back end.
"As we think about this season and what we’re trying to accomplish and do, certainly getting the puck in the forwards’ hands in positions that they can then go create offense more often is a really big part of what we’re trying to accomplish," Chayka said. "If you look at Morgan’s career, he’s been able to skate, move the puck and create offense. So at no point was this some situation where we didn’t want Morgan Rielly, or we don’t value Morgan Rielly. It’s the opposite."
But with all the talk of a potential move over the summer and actively looking for trade offers for Rielly, does that harm his relationship with the team or new management? Chayka doesn't think so.
“I’ve had very frank, candid conversations with Morgan now over the summer," he said. "Like, what an incredible person, and he’s played an important role for this team, and we expect he’ll continue to do that. We’re in a good spot — he’s ready to go for camp and just looking forward.”
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