Morgan Rielly is still wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, but nobody around the team sounds certain that lasts through the summer.
Elliotte Friedman dropped a fresh update on Rielly's situation Tuesday afternoon, and it did not sound like a done deal in either direction.
Friedman said there's a real chance Toronto keeps its longtime defenseman past this offseason. But he was careful to note that outcome might not sit well with everyone in the building.
There's been reporting that Rielly himself would like to move on. Friedman won't confirm it outright, saying only, "I know it's out there."
Here's the part that matters for any team calling Toronto: the Maple Leafs are not paying a premium to move him.
Rielly's cap number could freeze the trade market cold
Rielly carries a cap hit of $7,500,000, a number that shrinks the pool of suitors fast once retention gets involved.
He's coming off a season where he posted 36 points in 78 games, with 11 goals and 25 assists, but finished at a minus-18 rating.
His most recent stretch offers a split picture. Over his last five games, he managed just 1 point and sat at minus-3.
Zoom out to his last 10 and the production ticks up slightly, 3 points with a minus-1 mark, but the underlying trend still isn't flattering for a $7.5 million rearguard.
Friedman's exact words tell you where Toronto's front office stands right now.
"I said that there's a chance they keep him. I don't know if that made everybody involved happy. There was some reporting after that he would like to move on. I don't know if that's true or not. I know it's out there. I just heard that Toronto told people they're not paying a big price to move him. If it's something they consider too much of a sweetener, they won't do it."
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That's a defenseman who turns 32 this year, on the back nine of a big contract, with a team that just finished 32-36-14 and stumbled home on a seven-game losing streak.
New head coach Jim Hiller, hired only weeks ago on June 17, now inherits a roster question that predates him entirely.
Does he want Rielly quarterbacking his blue line, or does he want the cap flexibility a trade would create?
Toronto isn't desperate here, according to Friedman, and that patience could be exactly what stalls this all summer.
Should the Maple Leafs move Morgan Rielly this summer, even at a discount?
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