- David Pagnotta says a Morgan Rielly trade is a matter of when, not if
- The Flyers poked around on Rielly, but Toronto won’t retain salary or add a sweetener
- Read below for why Rielly’s four-team no-trade list complicates a Philadelphia deal
The Morgan Rielly trade watch has a new team attached to it.
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said the Flyers poked around on the Maple Leafs defenseman, and he doesn’t expect Toronto to hang onto him. Pagnotta called a Rielly move “a matter of when, not if,” even with no timeline on when a deal actually gets done.
Philadelphia wants to add a defenseman and made the call. The catch is that the Flyers want Toronto to eat some of Rielly’s salary, according to Pagnotta.
Rielly carries a $7.5 million cap hit for four more years. Leafs GM John Chayka has no interest in retaining money or adding a sweetener to get a deal done, so the two sides sit pretty far apart.
The bigger snag is Rielly’s no-movement clause. He submitted a list of four Western Conference teams he’d waive it for, and Philadelphia isn’t on it. The Flyers would need him to open up that list before this goes anywhere.
There’s even a ripple effect in Philadelphia. Adding Rielly could muddy the Flyers’ reported willingness to move Rasmus Ristolainen, since Rielly doesn’t bring the same physical, shutdown edge.
Toronto and Philadelphia have already done business this summer. The two teams kicked off the offseason when the Leafs shipped Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit to the Flyers for Sam Ersson, Emil Andrae and a third-round pick.
Chayka keeps saying publicly that Rielly is a big part of the group. The market keeps saying otherwise.
Rielly, 32, has never played for another organization since Toronto grabbed him fifth overall in 2012. He’s the longest-tenured Leaf on the roster.
If Chayka holds firm on retention and Rielly holds firm on his list, a trade could sit unfinished deep into the summer.
