The Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the most aggressive teams since the free agent market opened on July 1. John Chayka has talked about how he and the front office are going to change the look of the roster, and he did that.
However, now, they have an abundance of forwards, and before addressing that, he will need to address their cap space situation. Which begs the question, is it time to put pressure on Morgan Rielly and try and force him out the door? If so, then the Anaheim Ducks make the most sense as the landing spot.
Rielly to the Ducks just makes too much sense
If the Maple Leafs can get Rielly to agree to a trade that would send him to the Ducks, they could potentially move his entire contract off the books. After seeing the Edmonton Oilers trade Darnell Nurse to the San Jose Sharks and not retain any of his $9.2 million cap hit. Should give the Maple Leafs hope that they can do the same thing with Rielly's $7.5 million cap hit.
That said, the Ducks make the most sense because of the amount of loss they've had on their blue line. They lost Jacob Trouba to the Sharks, Radko Gudas to the Florida Panthers, Owen Zellweger to the Buffalo Sabres, and John Carlson to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That's four impactful players, and they really didn't replace them.
That's where Rielly comes into play. They need some veteran experience who can help out offensively. He can provide that, and with less pressure on him from the media and the fan base, he may be able to breathe easier. It does seem like this is the next shot to drop; Ducks GM Pat Verbeek needs to fill a hole and he could have Rielly high on his list.
For the Maple Leafs, the goal wouldn't be to get a lot back. If we use the Nurse trade as the bar, they were able to get Shakir Mukhamadullin and the rights to Zachary Sharp. The Maple Leafs could acquire defenceman Noah Warren and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Ducks in exchange for Rielly.
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