It now sounds like the Maple Leafs are trying to trade Morgan Rielly and there is a real timeline

Morgan Rielly's future has been a back and forth affair that now points to a potential deal that could be finalized as early as the end of this week.

John Chayka woke up on Wednesday and chose to completely overhaul the entire Maple Leafs offensive group. He traded away Nick Robertson, added four forwards and Sergei Bobrovsky, while also hinting that there is more to come and knowing the Maple Leafs, things can pop off any moment.

In addition to that there was a potential Zach Werenski deal though that seems to have bit the dust at least for now which means Matthew Knies is at least safe for the time being though there's still one name who still hasn't moved despite tons of rumours: Morgan Rielly.

Rielly's future has been contentious to say the least as first the team wanted to get a trade done and when that didn't happen they figured he was part of the solution and with the addition of Darren Raddysh it at least looks like he won't have near as much responsibility should be be a part of things.

Toronto had active trade talks regarding Morgan Rielly on July 1 with a timeframe being decided

Though it sounds like Toronto is still angling for some type of deal involving Rielly and according to a report from David Pagnotta, there's a timeframe for the entire situation too:

The Maple Leafs have had ongoing trade talks with teams about Morgan Rielly today and those conversations will continue. It does sound like the end goal is a trade at some point this week/summer.

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That is a huge relief for fans who may have been worried that without a trade earlier there is no hope and with the San Jose Sharks acquiring Darnell Nurse, it knocks off one of the prime destinations that Rielly could have ended up.

Rielly, 31, had 36 points in 78 games for the Maple Leafs last season and is the longest tenured member of the team.

It's a sharp turn from where Toronto was a week ago

However, his defensive game was terrible with a minus-18 and had some pretty pedestrian possession numbers. The past two seasons have seen him score only 77 points in 160 games and a minus-26 so suffice to say it's been a bit rough for Rielly.

Maybe that gave Chayka some reservations about keeping him around and the chance to acquire a player who is a bit better defensively is in the cards. Rielly's been replaced by Raddysh as the main PP QB, meanwhile the team has Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Emil Andrae as their puck-movers too.

Rielly's not exactly impossible to move but he does hold the majority of the power and with one of his teams off the market likely; he's got some thinking to do.

But it feels like Toronto is anxious to pull the trigger even if they have something. Chayka praised Rielly's time with the Maple Leafs and how professional he's been on and off the ice shows there could also be some hesitation to just let him go without finding the best deal for him out of respect (a la Brendan Gallagher).

Though with the team eyeing a solution by potentially Friday or at least some time in July, it's clear that the loyalty aspect won't at least deter the team from poking around for potential suitors which is probably the best course of action if the team wants to compete in 2026-27.

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