The Toronto Maple Leafs have been extremely active this offseason. General manager John Chayka has completely reworked the team's bottom six forward group, added a future Hall-of-Fame goaltender, and is still working the phones to maybe improve the blue line.
One trade that could come very soon is sending veteran Morgan Rielly out in exchange for anything, and there is a surprising team linked to the defenseman.
Morgan Rielly linked to up-and-coming team
While all the talk has been that Rielly wants to head out to the Western Conference with teams like the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks involved, there is now an Eastern Conference team that has asked Chayka what it would take to bring in the player. And it only makes sense with the Sharks doing all of their business to get bigger on the blue line by adding Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse, and the Ducks maybe not even interested in Rielly.
Now, a team might intrigue Rielly to stay in the Eastern Conference and play in a better role.
“My understanding is that it’s a matter of when not if they move him, but when is undefined. There’s no urgency to do if they don’t find a deal that’s right for them. They’re not just trying to give him away. They still see him within a plan but at the same time they’re willing to have those conversations, so we’ll see how that evolves over the summer. Nothing is imminent, but at the same time if you’re interested in Morgan Rielly, give them a call,” David Pagnotta said on Thursday’s episode of The DFO Rundown.
“One team that poked around a little bit was Philadelphia. And we know that other move with Woll a couple weeks ago. But they want to bring in a defenseman, there’s been some sort of conversation, but they’re wanting retention. I’m not sure Toronto wants to do that.”
The Philadelphia Flyers is an interesting landing spot. They want to upgrade their blue line and general manager Danny Briere has been in on every good defenseman from Zach Werenski to Darnell Nurse. Now that those options are dried up, could he turn to Rielly to see if there's a fit?
He's not the most physical presence out there, but with players like Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen, maybe he doesn't have to be. And with Canadian Olympian Travis Sanheim on the top pairing and possibly playing above him, Rielly can settle in a second-pairing role that suits him extremely well. Plus, the Flyers need all the help they can get on the power play and Rielly could at least help a little bit with that.
It's an intriguing option. The only issue is that the Flyers seem to want the Leafs to retain some of Rielly's $7.5-million AAV over the next four years, which isn't great. If there is retention but the Leafs get back a second-round pick? Maybe that can be liveable. A deal could be worked out here.
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