Maple Leafs hold significant leverage in a Morgan Rielly trade securing pure salary cap freedom

Of all the changes that the Toronto Maple Leafs can do this summer, one of the biggest is changing up their defensive structure and all fingers are pointing to Morgan Rielly as the main culprit.

His defence has slipped even more, the offensive side of things is unimpressive and at $7.5-million it's a bit egregious.

They are going to likely get rid of him but the issues then lie in not only finding a team who wants to take him but someone who is going to be able to take on that money and it looks like the Maple Leafs are going to have to absorb at least some of that to get a deal done.

Though they could very well find themselves not needing to keep a dime thanks to new information from The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta:

It's a bit of a stunner that the Maple Leafs could be able to get rid of Rielly without needing to keep any salary and it's not like he's someone who is completely useless — just not what the team needs to be successful.

That doesn't mean he can't thrive elsewhere, and it's likely that wherever he goes he will not be looked at as a #1 defenceman, which is something that the Maple Leafs have had issues coming to terms with lately and it's hurt both his stock and their own results.

Rielly, 31, put in a decent year all things considered though you can clearly see a drop-off since his 2018-19 season.

In 78 games he posted only 36 points which was his lowest since 2020-21 but he played in 23 fewer games. He was worse than last year and even then there were questions about his future with the team — and a rough minus-18 rating.

But he's still able to help drive an offence just not at the top of the lineup. We heard a lot of rumours about the San Jose Sharks being heavily interested in him and with them needing to add defenders, it's a perfect fit.

They have roughly $41-million in projected cap, and they are losing four regular defenders to free agency as well as needing to sign Shakir Mukhamadullin who is an RFA. They need a veteran defender to solidify them and he'd be a great mentor for young d-men like Mattias Havelid and Leo Sahlin Wellenius.

Toronto could target a package involving Collin Graf, Eric Pohlkamp and maybe a fourth-round pick in 2026 would be enough.

Graf gives them a young future top-six centre, and Polhkamp (who was just signed out of Denver) would give them their Rielly replacement though it's a hard sell given he just inked a deal.

They could also go after Mukhamadullin who would give them a steady defensive presence at only 24, and if Toronto wants to fit their size quota; he's 6-foot 4, 200-pounds.

Wherever he ends up though, it's going to help Toronto not only get some pretty big money off the books but could potentially be the catalyst that gives the Maple Leafs a true offensive body on the back end once again.

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