The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the best defenseman in the NHL on their roster and re-signing him should be the team’s top priority next summer.
Rielly still has this year and next year left on his ridiculously cheap $5 million deal, at which point he will be an unrestricted free-agent. The Toronto Maple Leafs face a similar problem this summer with Zach Hyman, and it will be interesting to see what they do about it, as that will likely shed some light on their position on Rielly.
Hyman will turn 29 this summer and is due for a new contract and a raise. His current $2.5 million dollar cap hit makes him one of the most valuable players per dollar in the NHL. Hyman has won over skeptics, including me, to become the most popular Leafs player since Wendel Clark.
He’s a 20 goal scorer who makes everyone around him better, works harder than anyone and is, along with Morgan Rielly, the heart, soul and leader of this team. Sure, John Tavares is the captain, but Rielly and Hyman have been here since the beginning of the rebuild.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Upcoming UFAs
Obviously Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares are the big names who drive the results., But unless literally everything we have ever heard or thought about hockey, in terms of it being a team game where leadership, loyalty and determination matter, the Leafs have to sign these two players.
It is not lost on me that to do so you almost certainly have to trade William Nylander, unless the cap goes up or you can find a rookie goalie on an ECL or something. I have to constantly write about how good Nylander is because the narrative surrounding him is based on conspiracy-level stupidity.
You can’t be expected to take seriously the rantings of people who ignore evidence and persist in being wrong despite, literally, dozens, if not hundreds of examples to the contrary. So believe me, I don’t like saying this.
But you aren’t getting rid of Matthews, Marner or Tavares, and re-signing Rielly and Hyman can’t be done without clearing some space. And you have to re-sign both of them because if you don’t, you rip the heart out of your team.
Rielly is currently on nearly a 70 point pace and is top ten in the NHL among overall defenseman’s impact (the Athletic). This is the first year he’s ever had a peer as his partner. Zach Hyman is Zach Hyman.
I want to finish with this tweet, which I think makes my point perfectly. I hated when the Raptors traded their most popular player for a mercenary. Yeah, they won, but to me, it was an empty victory that celebrated the worst of sports.
It’s my opinion that it isn’t just enough to win. You have to win with the guys who matter to your team. Call me old fashioned, but I would rather the Leafs never win the Cup than see the look on my sons face when I tell him his favorite player doesn’t play for his favorite team anymore.
I don’t think winning is everything, and I don’t think selling your soul to get marginally better is ever worth it. I also know that there are very good empirical reasons to pass on signing both players. This argument is, at least partially, maybe wholly, an emotional appeal.
I think the Toronto Maple Leafs have built a great team. I have enjoyed watching them draft and develop Morgan Rielly, and trade for and develop Zach Hyman. I think they both bring more to the team in terms of making it a team and not just a collection of guys, than almost everyone else. I believe that their value on the must be considered in tandem with their value to the team’s psyche.
I don’t like the idea of trading players that we have watched for six, seven years just when the team is starting to make some noise. I am attached to these players, I like these players. I don’t really care if that’s uncool, or if it’s not statistical sensible thing to believe.