Maple Leafs Talking Big Blue Line Trade Despite No GM

Apparently, just because the Toronto Maple Leafs are sans an active general manager doesn’t mean business has stopped. Nor have trade discussions. According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, the organization will continue to look at its options, including a trade involving Morgan Rielly.

Kypreos writes, “Even without a GM in place, you have to wonder if the next half dozen games could be Morgan Rielly’s last as a Maple Leaf.”

The Maple Leafs Are Looking to Shake Up Their Defense

Kypreos contends that whatever retooling the Maple Leafs undertake, it will likely include moving pieces on their blue line. The top name linked to those changes is Morgan Rielly. The NHL analyst and former player also suggests that the team might not wait for a new manager or President of Hockey Operations to be hired if the opportunity to pull the trigger on a trade presents itself.

As per Kypreos:

“Even without a new GM in place, as Ryan Hardy and Brandon Pridham are at the helm in the interim, many industry sources believe the Leafs will still be looking at options to move on from their longest-tenured player. A buyout is unlikely, considering he has four years left on his contract. Rielly has a no-movement clause for the next two seasons as well, but expect the club to do its best to convince him to waive it to make a creative trade and send him to a place of his liking.”

In other words, those still managing the day-to-day in Toronto intend to talk with Rielly and let him know that they don’t necessarily see him as part of the future.

Will Anyone Want to Take on Rielly’s Contract?

Outside of the issue that Rielly holds a lot of the cards right now, there’s also the not-so-small matter of whether a team would want to take him on, even if he agreed to go. If the Leafs are retooling, he might be open to moving. However, which teams will be eager to take on a $7.5 million defenseman for four more seasons?

At his full price, the answer might be no one.

However, Kypreos believes the Maple Leafs will be open to helping out. If they take on some money in the trade, there are teams that believe Rielly has value.

“As many NHL teams have informed me, they still see a good and serviceable player in Rielly who could be rejuvenated under the right circumstances,” writes Kypreos. However, it’s not going to be cheap to facilitate the deal. “But for that to happen, the Maple Leafs may need to retain as much as 50 percent of the $7.5 million AAV he has, and throw in a draft pick sweetener.”

This leaves Toronto in a tricky spot. Retain half on Rielly or buy out his contract and eat about the same money. The latter doesn’t require adding a sweetener. But if a team doesn’t need Toronto to retain half and can get away with retaining $2 million or so, that might be something to consider.

Questions about whether the incoming GM would be on board with such a deal seem irrelevant given Kypreos’s report. But, it also could explain why the Leafs want to have a search firm hired by the end of the week and the process to hire someone might not take that long.