Pittsburgh added another Maple Leaf executive to their front office with Brandom Pridham, and with them kicking tires on Morgan Rielly - he can fit him in.
Look, let's just be honest - Kyle Dubas loves his former Maple Leafs. Whether it's executives like Jason Spezza, Wes Clark, and Stephen Roque or players like Nick Robertson, Connor Dewar, and Conor Timmins, it feels like the old Toronto GM has a soft spot for his old friends back on Bay St.
Nothing wrong with that of course, but it's clear that he prefers comfort over anything as he wouldn't surround himself with former faces if he was fine with letting some unknowns do the dirty work. He added yet another former Leafs exec on Tuesday and it was a pretty important one in Brandon Pridham.
Brandon Pridham knows Toronto better than anyone
Pridham had been the cap guru for the Maple Leafs and someone who ensured that the Core Four were able to stay together regardless of the financial implications. Whenever there was a deal to be figured out, the team always looked to Pridham for a solution and more often than not; he had one.
But now he's going to be taking over in Pittsburgh and focused on their salary cap, and if there is anyone who can help Dubas navigate the ever-expanding salary cap and make deals work, it's Pridham and the Penguins may not be done adding Leafs either and needed Pridham to get the gears rolling.
With the team reportedly keeping an eye on Morgan Rielly, they now have the guy who knows his contract and how things are structured better than anyone.
He would know exactly the pieces they are looking for or willing to give up, and he can help Dubas acquire someone he knows can be good but has struggled in recent years.
Rielly would have a ton of protection in Pittsburgh, not need to run the power-play, and has two Hall of Famers up front along with some pretty fantastic support pieces.
Pridham's hiring mixed with Rielly trade chatter is not really a coincidence
Which is why this move, correlating with the Rielly trade chatter, is so intriguing. Dubas likely would've hired him anyways but the timing coming nine days after it was reported they were interested in Rielly is hardly coincidental.
They accelerated the hiring in the hopes of maybe accelerating a Rielly trade.
Obviously, Rielly hold his future in his hands as he has that pesky no-trade clause however has been willing to open that up a bit, and a reunion with former teammates and a GM who believes in him could be enough to convince him to waive that protection and head to Pittsburgh.
At least Pridham can give the Penguins an idea of what the trade may cost them and what Rielly's value truly is, so while it may not be a blockbuster return, we could see a more hockey-level trade where Toronto takes on a deal like Thomas Novak or Justin Brazeau.
Rielly truly holds all the cards but with the news that Pridham is headed to Steeltown and Dubas is creating the Pittsburgh Maple Leafs essentially - he may want in on the fun and finally give Toronto a chance to trade him.
All thanks to Brandon Pridham, who even in his absence could end up being Toronto's saviour once again.
Do you think Pittsburgh is going to trade for Morgan Rielly?
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