It is being reported that defenseman Mario Ferraro chose to sign with the Winnipeg Jets because the Toronto Maple Leafs could not move Morgan Rielly fast enough.
The free agent market was rough this year, particularly for defensemen. As reported by NHL insider David Pagnotta, Ferraro's camp was not willing to wait to sign a deal despite the mutual interest.
"But the message was we have to move Rielly before we can sign you," said Pagnotta in the Leafs Morning Take podcast. "And clearly they were not willing to wait, and he got the next option in Winnipeg. And I think it would have come in around three or four years and somewhere in the 4 to 5 million range with Toronto."
Ferraro is just entering his prime years and will be 28 at the start of the next season; he played on some pretty poor San Jose Sharks teams that saw him surrounded by very little talent, particularly in the D core beside him.
Ferraro has never been a huge player on the power play, but he is someone who can contribute offensively and is still pretty solid defensively, though he does not bring a lot of height with him at 5'11 but is still 200 pounds and not a pushover.
Mario Ferraro chose not to wait for the Maple Leafs and signed with the Jets
It makes sense why Ferraro did not wait around at all; people like Ferraro have limited dollars available to them, and waiting around can pose the potential risk of the Leafs backtracking and him not getting the contract he wants.
Ferraro is a hometown kid and from Toronto, but Winnipeg offered a deal in the same ballpark, and the Maple Leafs did, and the young veteran chose to sign a three-year, 12-million-dollar deal with a 4 million dollar AAV.
For the Maple Leafs to bring him in, they likely would have had to make another move to free up the cap space, which is moving Morgan Rielly and his $ 7.5 million cap hit.
Ferraro slots in on the left side in the third-pairing for Winnipeg next season. That also features a team where his goalie behind is Connor Hellebuyck, and you could see some of his stats increase because of the team that surrounds him, as well as not being in the top-four anymore.
The Maple Leafs are right up against the cap and would have had to make Ferraro wait while the rest of the roster got situated.
This is the situation where someone wanted to take the guarantee over the hope that his hometown team does right by him.
Toronto needed a Morgan Rielly trade before adding another defenseman
One thing is pretty clear here: the Maple Leafs are pretty much ready to move on from the Rielly era in Toronto. He is clearly the easiest moveable piece; his level of play has dipped, he is older, he is not great defensively, and he has a fairly large cap hit.
It makes sense that, going forward, unless he bounces back heavily, he will be the first piece that will be moved going forward into this offseason, and potentially in-season if they look to acquire things at the deadline.
John Chayka has been incredibly creative in both filling out this roster and creating cap space to make moves, but his cap space has dwindled significantly after being a very active player on the first day of free agency.
It also says that if they want to add a defenseman, they are going to have to move one out, and that player is going to be Rielly.
The Maple Leafs' left side has been fairly deep for quite some time, but after significant moves to address the right-shot defenseman this offseason, if one is coming out, it is going to be on the left side of the Dcore.
Ultimately, this situation provides clarity on how the front office is operating and the direction that they are going. While it is certainly possible they keep Rielly on the team to enter the season, it certainly also seems that he will be the first one to be moved if the front office wants to make a move.
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