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Morgan Rielly is a career-long Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman.
It's looking more and more like that could change, though. He's in the midst of trade rumors, and they seem like the type that will eventually result in a deal sending Rielly elsewhere.
He's due $7.5 million per year over the next four seasons, a total of $30 million, which isn't the easiest contract to move. But if the Maple Leafs retain at least a bit of salary, that will help.
On the Rielly side, the Maple Leafs have gotten some relatively new insight that should help them.
"Rielly had previously been unwilling to consider waiving his no-movement clause, but has since softened on that stance," The Athletic's Chris Johnston wrote this week.
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It is a tricky thing whenever a talented veteran player heads toward the trade market. Almost all of them have some form of no-trade or no-movement clause.
Rielly fits that bill, but if he has started to recognize that his future probably will end up being outside Toronto, maybe his softening is in part to help influence where he might end up.
The Maple Leafs are trying to reconfigure their defensive unit this offseason, already picking up Emil Andrae in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Rielly is still useful, but Toronto could use a changing of the guard.
"While Rielly’s skating isn’t the separator it once was, he possesses strong puck skills and can help drive a team offensively," Johnston writes. "He’s also a high-character player who should be viewed as a dressing room asset."
The Maple Leafs have a new front office and a new head coach. They'll have a No. 1 pick to make soon.
And that's just the beginning of what should be a busy offseason.
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