Major Leafs piece is on the way out and the destination just leaked
The Morgan Rielly trade chatter just got a specific destination attached to it.
Frank Seravalli told The Big Show that Rielly is a "very movable player" and floated San Jose as a real fit given the Sharks have only two NHL defensemen under contract.
That's the kind of specifying rumor that doesn't usually come from nowhere. Seravalli isn't throwing names at a wall. He's reporting what the market is signaling.
Rielly is 32 with a $7.5 million cap hit and several seasons still left on his deal. He finished the year at 36 points across 78 games and a minus-18 rating that nobody in Toronto wants to talk about.
The Leafs gave up 299 goals against this season. The back end is one of the obvious places GM John Chayka has to start the surgery. Rielly's name keeps coming up because the math says it has to.
San Jose finished 22nd overall at 39-35-8 with 86 points. Better than expected, still building. They have the cap room. They have the need. They have the timeline that works.
Why Macklin Celebrini's emergence changes the Sharks playbook
The Sharks have a 19-year-old centerpiece already in place. Macklin Celebrini wrapped his sophomore season with 115 points across 82 games. 45 goals. 25 power-play assists.
That's not a player you build slowly around anymore. That's a player you put veterans alongside right now, before his next contract gets expensive.
GM Mike Grier has been openly hunting for veteran additions to support that young core. A right-shot offensive defenseman with playoff experience fits the brief.
Rielly's no-move clause is the wrinkle. He'd have to agree to waive it for San Jose specifically. That conversation belongs to the player's camp, not the front offices.
The Leafs landing the first-overall pick changes their entire calculus too. Treliving has a runway to flip veteran money into futures in ways that didn't exist 10 days ago.
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Honestly, the Rielly contract has felt untouchable for two years. The narrative kept softening around it. Now multiple reports have flipped it into "very movable" territory inside a single off-season.
Will Smith and William Eklund are also growing into top-six roles in San Jose. The window opens fast when you have three first-round talents already producing.
The deal isn't done. Conversations rarely are this early. But the noise is loud enough that fans in both markets should be paying attention.
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MAY 25, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Jankowski | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| William Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||