The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a difficult time adjusting to life without forward Mitch Marner, who now plays for the Vegas Golden Knights after a major sign-and-trade contract during the offseason following Toronto’s latest disappointing Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Right now, if the Stanley Cup Playoffs were to begin today, the Maple Leafs would find themselves on the outside looking in for the first time since 2016.
And as such, there could be several difficult decisions ahead for Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, who replaced Kyle Dubas upon the latter’s termination in 2023.
While it may seem unimaginable to see a player like veteran defenseman Morgan Rielly, the longest-tenured current member of the Maple Leafs, wear the uniform of another NHL team, it’s emerging more and more as a distinct possibility.
In fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise in the mind of NHL Insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
“I think they’re going to have a conversation with Morgan Rielly,” Pagnotta recently explained to fellow Insider Jeff Marek. “I don’t think it’s going to be now, though I could be wrong. I think it’s going to be when the season concludes that they are going to go back to Morgan Rielly, and say, ‘We’ve got to do something bold here, will you consider a move?'”
“I think that’s something that will eventually happen; if they miss the playoffs then that’s likely to happen in the summer,” Pagnotta continued. “But he controls it, so they could ask him and he could say no. I believe they had a loose conversation at the end of last season about it that obviously didn’t lead to anything.”
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Morgan Rielly Is The Longest-Tenured Toronto Maple Leafs Player
Originally Toronto’s first round (fifth overall) pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Rielly has spent his entire NHL career with the Maple Leafs and has been through it all with the organization.
He’s in the midst of an eight-year, $60 million deal that could actually scare off potential suitors unless the Leafs were willing to retain a major portion of that amount of money.
Rielly actually missed Toronto’s most recent two games before the start of the 2026 Olympic break, but was back at practice with the rest of his teammates that didn’t travel to Milan and said that he was feeling better.
“I was kind of just dealing with something, and it kind of just got to a point where I just needed some time,” Rielly said Wednesday. “So obviously the break was good, and I think I was able to just come back ready to play.”
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The Maple Leafs Could Very Well Miss The Playoffs
Ultimately, it would be a strange sight to not have the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite their lack of overall success in games beyond the regular season, a nine-year streak is nothing to sneeze at.
But if the Maple Leafs are decidedly out of the playoff conversation by the time the calendar flips to March 6, Treliving could be faced with the possibility of having to part ways with the longest-tenured member of the club (if he were to agree to waive his no-trade clause).
Maple Leafs Could Consider Major Trade Of Core Player