Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Only Two Real Choices: Trade or Re-Sign Morgan Rielly

Morgan Rielly is on an expiring contract. What three choices do the Toronto Maple Leafs have with him? What’s the best choice?

by
Old Prof
June 24, 2021

Morgan Rielly is both a solid player and a solid citizen. He has leadership potential and, to my mind, is the kind of a player the Toronto Maple Leafs should build their team around. All that said, now the team is on the horns of a dilemma. Rielly has one more season left on his six-year, $30 million contract and the team has two choices.

Choice one is that team work out a deal to extend Rielly’s contract as soon as possible. Choice two is to trade him. The third choice – to keep Rielly as an internal rental – is simply untenable. The team simply can’t afford another internal rental like they did this season with Frederik Andersen. And, if there are only two choices on the table – trade or lose – that’s really no choice at all.

In that case, as hard as it might be to do, I think Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas simply must trade Rielly away. It would be the only logical business decision. In the past, Dubas has kept too many Maple Leafs’ players around one season too long and then lost them for nothing.

Movement Towards Re-signing, But Preparing for Another Alternative

Today, if you’re a fan of Rielly, there was a rumor of some good news. The Maple Leafs seem to be heading toward choice one – re-sign him to a contract extension. As Pierre LeBrun noted (subscription required) the organization is expected to try to sign Rielly to a contract extension this summer.

LeBrun wrote:

My sense is while the Leafs absolutely want to try and extend Rielly this offseason — he’s got one year left on his deal — that negotiation is going to wait until August after the July fireworks are done. Which will give Leafs management a better idea after they’ve made other moves, and seen the NHL landscape, to know what they can do with Rielly.

I admit that I like that idea because I’m a clear believer that the team would not be better next season if Rielly departed. If the team hopes to move on, it simply needs to be a better team next season than it was this season.

As my hockey friend and great Maple Leafs’ fan Stan Smith reminds me, the team’s window of opportunity with the current core is shrinking quickly. They have three more years on Auston Matthews’ and William Nylander’s contracts, and four more years on Mitch Marner’s. John Tavares isn’t getting any younger either.

The Maple Leafs can ill afford to waste another one of those years by taking a step backwards. Signing Rielly, to my mind, would be a step forwards.

That’s why it seems crucial to re-signing Rielly during this upcoming offseason. Or, the second choice is to make a real hockey trade – not one just to free up salary cap space with nothing in return. The team simply must get something back for Rielly.

Both Sides Want to Re-sign, But …

The Maple Leafs and Rielly’s agent J.P. Barry spoke after the season concluded about the potential of signing a contract extension. However, it was noted that any serious discussions might have to wait until after the organization goes through free agency and explores the trade market later in July after the Seattle Kraken expansion draft on the 21st.

In his article, LeBrun reported that the Maple Leafs wanted to extend Rielly this offseason with one year left on his deal; however, much could depend on Rielly taking less money to stay with the team. The 27-year-old defenseman’s contract now calls for him to make $5 million a year. The numbers thrown around are that Rielly might be looking for about $6.5 million on a long-term contract.

However, there’s another option. If Rielly takes a COVID-related short-term bridge deal hoping for the salary-cap to rise, which I believe it will after the 2021-22 season, he could sign a shorter-term extension hoping there’d be more money in the pot for his next contract.

What Can’t Happen

What can’t happen is that the team gets stuck holding onto an “asset” one season too long and then receiving nothing for him. Trading Rielly then becomes a good and simple business decision. It might be a bit heartless, but it would also be the right thing to do. The team will miss him; but, for its long-term health, we’d have to say good-bye.

Rielly is a good player, a good citizen, and a classy guy. He always has been a good representative of the organization in the community. I hope LeBrun is correct that the Maple Leafs will sign him to a contract extension during the offseason. He’s one of those players that I’d like to see retire a Maple Leafs’ player.