- Chayka says Morgan Rielly is “a big part of this” despite months of trade talk
- Rielly has four years left at $7.5 million with a full no-movement clause
- Read below for what the Leafs GM said on Kyper and Bourne
Morgan Rielly might not be going anywhere after all.
Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka joined The Real Kyper and Bourne Show on Thursday, and when the talk turned to a possible Rielly trade, he sounded like a man planning to keep his longest-tenured defenseman.
Chayka was asked where things stood on moving the veteran.
“For us, where we’re at, where we’re trying to go, he’s been a leader. He’s the longest-tenured Leaf, nothing but respect for him. As we look to improve the group, we’ll always consider everything, but I would say at this juncture Morgan’s a big part of this.”
Here’s Chayka on the Rielly situation:
That is a softer tone than the one hanging over Rielly’s summer. Toronto has been shopping him for months, and Rielly himself submitted a western-heavy list of teams he would accept a deal to back in June.
The money is the tricky part. Rielly has four years left at $7.5 million per season, plus a full no-movement clause that hands him the final say on any destination.
That combination makes a clean trade tough to pull off, even for a team that would prefer a fresh start for both sides.
Toronto could still keep Rielly if the right offer never shows up, an outcome Chayka has acknowledged more than once.
Rielly is 32 and can still handle top-four minutes. He has run the Toronto power play for years and remains one of the most familiar faces in a room that changed a lot this offseason.
Take a look at Kyper and Bourne breaking down the Leafs’ new-look roster:
If Chayka never finds a trade he likes, Rielly stays a Leaf. Right now that sounds like the most likely ending.
