Maple Leafs Need to Move on From Either Marner or Rielly

Maple Leafs’ GM Brad Treliving  won’t be moving his star, Auston Matthews, or potentially the best playoff performer on the team, William Nylander. While it is going to be hard to move any of them, they will need to get creative and find out who is wanted on the open market. That essentially takes John Tavares out of the equation, largely due to his contract. That leaves  Mitch Marner  and Morgan Rielly as the two players who could be moved to shake up the culture of this team.

Why Does Moving Marner Make Sense?

If the Maple Leafs are serious about moving a piece of their core, Marner makes the most sense hands down. Firstly, he is entering the last season of his current contract. Rather than re-signing him to a larger deal that carries a higher average annual value (AAV) and puts the organization in a harder spot cap-wise, it would be better for the club to look for potential trade partners that fit Marner’s requests and attempt to move on from him. Now, the hardest part of making this all work is the fact that he carries a full no-movement clause, which gives the team little to no leverage when it comes to a trade. However, it has been done before, and it’ll be done again.

The important thing to remember is that Marner is now going to be the scapegoat for all things Maple Leafs playoff elimination. Rightfully so though, he wasn’t very good. At times, he looked nervous and scared to initiate contact in the corners. It all came to a head when he appeared to give up on his check, David Pastrnak, which led to the Game 7 overtime (OT) winner. This had Maple Leafs’ fans taking to social media, saying that play was his last in a Maple Leafs jersey.

This is where things could get interesting for Treliving and the Maple Leafs. If he does approach Marner and his agent about a potential trade, he will likely ask him to submit a list of teams that he may be interested in joining. Marner could easily turn down the offer and express his want and willingness to return to the team next season. But after all the scrutiny that he has faced over the last few seasons and his growing annoyance with the media, he may be willing to move.

The trade that would be made would be equivalent to 75 cents on the dollar. This means that if the Maple Leafs do trade Marner, fans shouldn’t expect to get back equal to or more than what he brings to the team. But they could bring a player or two that helps the forward group and/or a forward and a top-four defenceman. Regardless, the potential of him not being back with the team at the start of training camp is more likely than it has been in years past, and the reasons behind it make more sense than ever.

Rielly Could Also Be an Option

Rielly is the other viable option to be dealt by the Maple Leafs this offseason. The longest-tenured player on the team could find himself playing for another team next season to give them more cap space and a new look to help bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto. Similar to Marner, though, Rielly carries a full no-movement clause until July 2028, when he will need to submit a 10-team no-trade list. However, for the time being, he essentially has full control over what happens in the future. He is in the second season of his eight-year deal that he signed back in 2021, which carries an AAV of $7.5 million per season. This AAV isn’t impossible to move, especially since he is still a very good player. The only challenge is the fact that he has the final say in what happens.

Again, like Marner, Treliving would need to approach Rielly and his representative for a short list of teams that he may be interested in playing for. If he agrees to the possibility of being moved, he will supply a list. However, if he waives his no-movement clause, he would be fully willing to agree to a trade and look for a fresh start.

These types of players would likely only want to be traded to another contender, which would limit the teams that would be able to make the move work based on cap space. For the Maple Leafs, it would be tough to trade Rielly; he is deemed the heart and soul of the group, but sometimes a team needs to make tough choices to give the team the best chance to succeed.

Trading Rielly would likely mean that the Maple Leafs could target a few pieces, such as another defenceman, or a higher-end top-six forward, but not nearly as much as they would get for trading Marner; these players they would get in return would probably be a one-for-one trade that would just change the culture and provide the team with a bit more cap space to help the roster elsewhere.

Overall, it would be incredibly hard to move either of these players, but if the Maple Leafs want to change the look of their team, they will need to figure out a way to move one of the core five players. Only time will tell what happens, but Treliving will be one of the most watched GMs this offseason, tasked with the challenge of changing his team to help them win the Stanley Cup.