It seems that the Morgan Rielly saga could be coming to an end this summer in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are believed to be actively shopping him, with a shortlist of teams emerging on the front.
According to insider Darren Dreger, Rielly’s agent has submitted a list of four teams, all based on the West Coast.
Morgan Rielly’s agent J.P Barry has submitted a list of 4 Western based teams Rielly is willing to go to. This will be a team by team assessment and depending on the fit, there could be some flexibility to add teams to the list.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 24, 2026
There’s no solid indication which teams are on the list. But you have to imagine that the Vancouver Canucks would be on the list. But there’s another club that could be emerging as a frontrunner: The San Jose Sharks.
As Howard Berger of the Fan 590 noted, the Sharks have been in the mix to land the 32-year-old. However, Berger doesn’t offer an optimistic outlook on the return for Rielly.
Hearing, unofficially, that Rielly will go to San Jose (with some salary retention) for a middle-round draft pick. His stock has fallen and the #Leafs have made it clear his time in #Toronto is over. The #Sharks have been interested for a while. Again, nothing confirmed.… pic.twitter.com/6Roqf3zBn7
— Howard Berger (@Berger_BYTES) June 24, 2026
Take that rumor with a grain of salt. But there does seem to be some sense to it. Like Darnell Nurse, Rielly is the sort of piece that has a bloated contract without offering significant upside to other teams.
The biggest benefit the Maple Leafs would get from trading Rielly is moving his cap hit out the door. While landing the 9th-overall pick would be quite the stunner, the reality is that the Leafs could be looking at something like what they got for Bobby McMann.
The two draft picks wouldn’t hurt, but the Leafs might hold out just a bit longer to see what materializes.
Nothing imminent on the Rielly front for now
As it stands, the word on the street is that there is nothing imminent on the Rielly front. While it appears that a few clubs have kicked the tires on Rielly, no one is really pushing the button now.
That’s all right, as the Leafs aren’t really in a rush to move Rielly. Ideally, the Leafs would like to put this issue to bed sooner rather than later. But then again, letting the trade market settle now wouldn’t hurt.
Teams that miss out on a high-end piece could circle back to Toronto and talk about Rielly. For instance, clubs interested in Bowen Byram might look at the other options out there and might be willing to get serious about Rielly.
Since the free-agent market doesn’t offer much hope, either, the Maple Leafs could cash in by just being a little bit more patient.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen what happens. The crucial point here will be to see how the next couple of days play out. But it’s worth pointing out that Leafs fans shouldn’t hold their breath on a Rielly trade happening soon.
Things can change in a heartbeat, of course. So, stay tuned.
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