Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly tops 'trade targets' board ahead of NHL offseason

For a while now, it has felt like Morgan Rielly would be on his way out of Toronto.

The only question has been when the Maple Leafs will trade him -- and if they'll be able to pull it off, given his hefty contract.

At least one NHL insider doesn't think the contract will be an issue. Frank Seravalli released a "trade targets" big board on Thursday, and he's got Rielly in the No. 1 spot.

"Yes, after nearly 1,000 games all in a Maple Leafs sweater, the time is nigh for Rielly - which is why he tops Hockey 24/7's first Trade Targets board of the 2026 NHL offseason," Seravalli writes.

There are multiple layers to a potential Rielly trade pointed out by Seravalli.

One is that Rielly is 32, and so the same reasons the Leafs might be ready to move on from him would apply to other teams, too.

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Another is that he has a full no-move clause. Rielly would have to agree to any conceptual destination before he could be traded.

The contract is definitely an issue, too, even though most analysts haven't focused on it when they speculate about Rielly.

He's owed $7.5 million over each of the next four seasons for a total of $30 million remaining on his deal. That's a lot of money if you believe a defenseman is in decline.

It makes sense that Toronto would want to trade him.

Does it make sense for anyone else to trade for him? That's the question that this offseason will likely answer, one way or the other.

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