The Toronto Maple Leafs could look much different next season, and one analyst is hopeful that they trade star defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Rielly just completed the third year of his eight-year, $60 million deal with the Maple Leafs. He’s spent his entire career with Toronto and has been a star defenseman with the team.
However, his play took a step back this season, and now NHL analyst JD Bunkis of Sportsnet believes the Maple Leafs need to trade Morgan Rielly.
“I think he should be gone. This gets into cuts,” Bunkis said on LeafsTalk. “For me, it starts with this. Shanahan, gone. I would put out the presser, tell him to clean out his office and anything not out of there in the next eight hours is going in the trash can. Thanks for your service. You built this culture, you are as complicit as anyone in this. I don’t see any scenario with Marner, and yeah, I think Rielly is the next cut. Those are the three automatics.”
Rielly does have a full no-movement clause, so if he doesn’t want to be traded, he won’t. But, Bunkis thinks the Maple Leafs can basically force him to get traded. A change of scenery could also be needed for Rielly to get back to form.
Rielly recorded 7 goals and 34 assists for 41 points in 82 games. He’s spent his entire 873-game career with the Maple Leafs after being selected fifth overall in 2012.
Maple Leafs’ Rielly Not Thinking About Being Traded
Although Bunkis believes Toronto should trade Rielly, the defenseman isn’t thinking about being dealt.
Rielly was asked about his future with the Maple Leafs and said he’s thinking about being in Toronto.
“That’s not what I’m thinking about right now,” Rielly said at locker cleanout day on May 20.
Rielly’s name will no doubt come up in trade rumors. But he says his goal is to come back to Toronto and be better than he was this past season.
“There’s always change,” Rielly said. “Every summer, every offseason is different. As a player, I think sometimes it’s best not to speculate on what may or may not happen. For us, individually for me, you want to focus on what you can do to come back better.”
The defenseman recorded 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points in 13 playoff games.
Maple Leafs Coach Believes Team Lost Its Structure
Toronto was blown out in Game 7 by the Florida Panthers and was eliminated from the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs lost 6-1, and coach Craig Berube believes the team lost their structure at certain times, which cost them.
“There’s a lot of things that go through your mind in these big games from a mental standpoint. And you may not have your A-game in these games,” Berube said on May 20. “But what you have to rely on is your structure. And when I look at these games, and I look at the situations that arrived and hurt us in these games, we lost our structure…
“That’s very important that we take this away and that we come back next year: structure is very important. And if you don’t lose your structure, you can get through these games without having your A-game,” Berube added.
The Maple Leafs are projected to have nearly $27 million in cap space this summer.
Analyst Calls for Maple Leafs’ Star Defenseman to be ‘Gone’ in Offseason