At Jim Hiller's official introductory press conference as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, GM John Chayka touched on the status of Morgan Rielly and where the situation stands with him potentially being traded this off-season.

Rielly's camp has provided a short list of teams to Chayka. However, when he was asked about the likelihood of the deal actually coming to fruition, the Leafs GM isn't so sure about that.

Is he expecting a move?

"I don't think so," Chayka said on Thursday. "As we stand here, No. But those are the discussions we'll continue to have."

It could be that the right offer hasn't come across Chayka's front desk, and no other team has given him a reason to trade away the Leafs' longest-active tenured player.

But taking a step back to see the situation clearly, maybe not sending away Rielly is the best play for the Maple Leafs right now.

The main reason the possibility of trading away Rielly has come up is because of how he's underperformed over the last couple of seasons, and that he could use a change of scenery, as well as Toronto being ready to move on from him.

However, if there isn't a real trade offer for Rielly, there's no sense in sending him away for the sake of it, or as a salary cap dump.

Rielly, 32, currently earns $7.5 million against the cap, and going into next season, his annual salary is just 7.8 percent of the $104-million cap limit. Realistically, the left-handed defenseman isn't overpaid all that much, and if he is, it's not more than $1 million.

Therefore, it wouldn't make sense just to send Rielly away for a mid-round draft pick, a player who also has a bad contract on another team, or to clear up cap space. He's worth more than that to the Leafs on the ice as an experienced defenseman, and off the ice as a leader and even ambassador of the team.

What's also worth mentioning is that the Leafs have a new coach now. The poor performances from Rielly have really come to light when he was coached by Craig Berube. But with Hiller coming in to replace him, there's a chance for Rielly to rediscover his game.

After all, his career-best season of 20 goals and 72 points in 2018-19 happened when Hiller was a part of the Leafs' coaching staff as an assistant coach.

Who knows how Rielly's game may be able to change under a new coach? At Hiller's official introductory media availability on Thursday, he did mention that he's excited to coach the defenseman again.

"I'm really excited with the chance to get to coach him again," Hiller said. "I thought Morgan, during my time here, was a real good player, was a great person. For me, I look at him as being a part of this group, and he knows that. I got a great respect for him."

With Chayka not expecting a trade for Rielly to happen soon, that doesn't mean the door has to be fully closed on that idea. Something can always brew in the middle of the season or at the trade deadline.

But as of right now, there's no need to force a trade that comes with an unsatisfying or unfair return.

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