Former Maple Leafs player Frankie Corrado is surprised Morgan Rielly hasn't been dealt yet, though still believes he'll end up somewhere else before the season opens.
Rielly's future has been a hotly contested topic this offseason with reports ranging from him being dealt ahead of the draft, to the potential of him staying - circling back to trade rumours once again, his status for training camp is still unresolved.
But former Maple Leafs player Frank Corrado is still under the belief that Rielly will be traded despite him feeling it would happen already - echoing a portion of the fanbase who may be thinking the same thing.
Frank Corrado still expects Morgan Rielly to be traded by the Maple Leafs
Corrado was speaking on SC with Jay Onrait and mentioned he believed that Rielly sticking with the team so far is a surprise and that he would have already been traded:
I'm surprised as well. I'm going to say I don't expect him to be with the Leafs when the season starts... but one thing that John Chayka was adamant about when he first took that job...they're going to build from the back end out.
The former Maple Leafs defenceman brings up a good point regarding Chayka and the team as a huge portion of this offseason overhaul was ensuring the blueline was a bit younger and a lot faster and able to move pucks more efficiently.
So far they've done well by adding Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae, while still having veteran options in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher so there are two other veteran puck-moving options available.
A reduced role could benefit Morgan Rielly if he's staying in Toronto
Raddysh is going to help immensely on the power-play and the Maple Leafs are going to use him as their one defensive player on the ice which means Rielly gets pushed down.
That may not be the worst thing in the world for him though as currently Rielly is penciled in for the second unit. That would put him on a projected line with Gavin McKenna, Easton Cowan, Jack Roslovic, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson which for all intents and purposes - isn't a bad group to lead.
He'll have help on the back end with Ekman-Larsson and won't need to worry about pinching a little knowing he has some protection. McKenna is a wild-card as we don't know what he's capable of yet but Roslovic has 21 career power-play goals and Cowan had six points on the PP in his rookie year.
A bit less pressure and expectations could help bring Rielly back to his offensive ways and even if he's able to find himself again on the power-play by virtue of having a bit of an easier assignment could be critical.
That won't necessarily prevent Rielly from being on the top pairing at even strength though, but Raddysh will be there to help and if coach Jim Hiller has reservations about Rielly's defensive ability then he can easily slide Jake McCabe up top and give Rielly a chance to work with Chris Tanev.
A Morgan Rielly trade was definitely expected but isn't guaranteed. If that's the case, then instead of worrying about what he can't do - the Maple Leafs need to focus on what he does well.
In turn, that could unlock Rielly's offensive side once again and by nature of that, rebuild some confidence from the fans.
Do you think Toronto is better or worse with Morgan Rielly?
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