Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Hypothetical Morgan Rielly Trades

It’ll be a sad moment if/when the Toronto Maple Leafs trade Morgan Rielly, but it’s a realistic possibility this offseason.

Morgan Rielly is the longest tenured player on the Toronto Maple Leafs. After getting drafted fifth overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Rielly has played almost 600 games with the team.

Throughout his journey, he’s been the team’s best defenseman, arguably, ever since he stepped on the ice for the first time in 2013. His smooth-skating is a joy to watch and his ability to produce offensively makes him a weapon on the blue-line.

Not only has he been great on the ice, but off the ice, he’s been a great ambassador for the team and a wonderful presence in the community. He’s always been honest in interviews and although he’s only 27-years-old, he always feels much more mature than his age would suggest.

Many people thought that he should have been the captain of this team, prior to the John Tavares signing, and those thoughts were incredibly justified.

Although he’s done everything you could ask for, everybody needs to understand the reality of the situation. He’s not a number-one defenseman. He’s a great number-two, but on a Stanley Cup winning team, you wouldn’t want him as your best player.

As a result, he shouldn’t make the same amount of money as a number-one guy. Rielly currently makes $5M, which is an underpayment for his services. However, based on the Leafs salary cap situation, they can’t afford to give him much more than that for his next contract.

If he’s looking for $7M and the salary cap isn’t going up for a few years, that’ll be a tough contract to provide. Instead of putting that money towards Rielly, the Leafs would potentially be in a better situation to trade him and use that money elsewhere. Whether that’s for another top-six winger or on a legitimate top-defenseman.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs decide to trade Rielly this offseason, here are three hypothetical deals.

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Matthew Tkachuk
• Calgary Flames acquire: Morgan Rielly, Alex Kerfoot, Rodion Amirov and 2021 Second-Round Pick (If Tkachuk re-signs in Toronto*)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have $40M invested in four forwards, so why would they make this move to add another high-paid forward to the mix? Well, that’s because Matthew Tkachuk would make this team exceptionally better and is the key ingredient to what they need.

As we look at the Leafs defensive depth chart, this is a very important year for Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin. If Toronto thinks that these two players can hold down the bottom-pair of their defense, they are going to save so much money and can afford to spend another $7M on a forward.

By shipping Rielly and Kerfoot out, the team would actually save $1.5M by acquiring Tkachuk and then in-turn could sign another top-four defenseman. I know it’s tough to replace Rielly, but acquiring Tkachuk is exactly what this team needs.

Toronto needs more depth-scoring and someone who plays with an edge. Tkachuk can do both of those things and would turn the Leafs top-six into the best in hockey.

Tampa Bay has continued to win with high-end skill, so Toronto can replicate that by stacking it’s top-six. Tkachuk may only have one year left on his deal, but since he’s a pending RFA, it’ll be worth the risk to trade for him. Even if it’s a failed experiment, the team could trade his rights for a great package or get a ton of compensation for him if someone offer-sheeted him.

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Seth Jones, Max Domi (50 percent retained)
• Columbus Blue Jackets acquire: Morgan Rielly, Rasmus Sandin, Adam Brooks and 2022 1st Round Pick

Here’s a fun blockbuster trade for everyone. The Leafs would get their number-one defenseman, while the Columbus Blue Jackets would get a replaceable player to re-sign. Seth Jones said that he wasn’t re-signing in Columbus after his contract is up in 2021-22, so they may as well trade him now to get some assets in return.

Sure, Toronto would be giving up a lot to acquire Jones, but it would be worth it. As we’ve seen over the past few seasons, Jones is one of the best defenseman in the NHL. Rielly is also one of them, but Jones is a better fit in Toronto.

At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Jones has intimidating size on the blueline. With similar contracts, it would be great to see Jones in a Leafs uniform, instead of Rielly for one year to see how different it looks.

The one kicker with this trade is the Max Domi acquisition. After getting drafted 12th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, his career has been a rocky-road. Currently on his third team, he hasn’t lived up to the hype that he created in junior hockey.

By getting traded to the team his father (Tie Domi) famously played for it, it could spark him to put up a similar season that he had with Montreal in 2018-19 when he scored 28 goals and had 72 points.

Although he’s a natural centre, he could benefit from playing beside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner instead. That trio could produce a ton of goals and revitalize Domi’s career.