How The Toronto Maple Leafs Could Extend Morgan Rielly’s Tenure

Morgan Rielly is the longest-tenured player on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, and he could be a prime trade candidate throughout the 2026-27 season. There has been plenty of talk that Rielly submitted a list of Western Conference teams that he would accept a trade to, but he remains with the team deep into the summer.

Rielly has been maligned for some time for his defensive inefficiencies, despite consistent offensive numbers throughout his career. With Darren Raddysh’s arrival this off-season, it’s likely that Rielly’s powerplay time will be reduced heavily, demoting him to the PP2 unit as he can no longer quarterback the powerplay.

The 32-year-old may not be a top-pairing player anymore, but he could still hold plenty of value for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He could play fewer, more sheltered minutes in situations that play to his strengths; otherwise, he could easily be the first person the team trades during the season.

However, with his longevity on the team, and his fan popularity, the Leafs may want to think more creatively to try and keep their long-time alternative captain around for as long as possible.

How Morgan Rielly Could Extend His Stay in Toronto

As previously stated, Rielly continues to put up consistent offensive numbers for a defenceman. He had 41 points (seven goals, 34 assists) in 82 games in the 2024-25 season, and had 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) in 78 games in the 2025-26 campaign. His defensive game has never been particularly strong, but with age it has almost become a liability, especially when he played under Craig Berube.

With Jim Hiller in charge, Rielly could have something of a renaissance along the blue line. The issue, though, is that the Leafs have too many players to fit into the equation and may want to give someone such as Emil Andrae more responsibility. Re-signing Troy Stecher also shows that they rate him highly enough to keep around and with Rielly potentially on the decline, he could find himself the odd man out eventually.

One way that could help Rielly to extend his stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and potentially his career in general, is if he takes inspiration from former Chicago Blackhawk and Winnipeg Jet Dustin Byfuglien. Except in reverse.

The Blackhawks used Byfuglien as a forward, but he truly excelled in the NHL on defense. For Rielly, he could find a home on the offence as a winger in certain situations. He could be deployed differently on the powerplay, more likely in a bumper position, and at even strength he could start in the offensive zone in some situations as a winger, focusing on using his offensive skills to great effect.

He can pass the puck around well, would have less defensive responsibility and would not be expected to drive play or connect the defence and offence if he can be deployed in situations where the Leafs are hoping to overwhelm opposition bottom liners. He could be a decent playmaker on the offensive side, distributing the puck around and even chipping in with a goal or two.

Experimenting with this could help Rielly stick around longer, or it could truly cement that his time in Toronto is over and a trade could be worked out sooner rather than later as a result. If Rielly could find a new home perhaps on the third or fourth line as an offensive-minded winger, in some form of a rotation early on, it could give him a new trick that can make him a more valuable player to his team.

His $7.5 million cap hit becomes more and more palatable as the salary cap continues to increase rapidly, so if he has to stick around then the financial side of it becomes less of an issue, but rather the actual on-ice production is then the focus. He has two more seasons with full No-Move protection, which then changes to a 10-team trade list, which would open up more options for the Leafs further down the line.

Regardless, it is worth trying to do something to see Rielly continue his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, hit 1000 games played with the team and further cement his place in team history as one of the most beloved and consistent players in the modern era. If that’s a gradual move to the forward position, it’s worth exploring.

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