The Maple Leafs are moving Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo out and that is a lot bigger than one trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to not only look for a deal involving Morgan Rielly, but also make way for a Brandon Carlo trade as well.

Morgan Rielly has been likely shown the door this offseason in Toronto, but he isn't the only defenceman on the chopping block. A new report shows the team also wants to find a deal for Brandon Carlo which shows the team is serious about making the necessary blueline improvements.

It's one of the top priorities on John Chayka's to-do list this summer, and if he wants to make sure that his fans, Auston Matthews, and the rest of the team are well prepared to walk into the Atlantic as competitors again - they need to make some serious changes.

Chayka admitted the defensive side needs work and Pagnotta believes that means Rielly and Carlo are out the door

So making sure they are able to get rid of Rielly and Carlo is important, and according to David Pagnotta, the Maple Leafs are working hard to find deals for both men in order to accelerate their improvement:

One of the things that John Chayka had said...fixing the blueline is a priority; that involves the potential move of Morgan Rielly; may also involve moving out Brandon Carlo.

Chayka was honest when he mentioned that he knows there needs to be improvement in certain areas and pointed to the blueline as a glaring issue. That means that Rielly - a player who has been quite possibly one of the worst defenders in the East, is going to be gone.

Carlo could still offer some assistance however he hasn't really shown a smidgen of the shutdown, stay-at-home defender he was in Boston. With a need to add more puck-moving and Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit and Chris Tanev already in tow, plus Ben Danford on the horizon; Carlo is expendable now.

Rielly and Carlo leaving shows you exactly who John Chayka is trying to target

But if Rielly and Carlo are on the move, that means they need to be replaced. So who exactly would John Chayka have in mind?

Well if we are going big, as Toronto probably should, then two names come to mind: Darren Raddysh and Rasmus Andersson.

Raddysh is someone who not only improves the possession and puck-moving in Toronto but also gives them a lethal point shot on the power-play and finally someone who isn't afraid to shoot; like Rielly. He's going to be expensive and is 30 years old so he isn't exactly young, but with a smaller contention window, splurging on him makes sense given the need to win now.

Andersson would be someone who is a better overall defender than Carlo, has better offensive upside, is one of the best shot-blockers in the game and may be the perfect solution to give Toronto that veteran shutdown guy without trading a future asset like they did for Carlo (Andersson is a UFA this summer).

There's more versatility on the backend with Raddysh and Andersson, as both have defensive acumen and improve the offensive side considerably. It's one of the best courses of action for Chayka to take if he truly wants to improve things.

The only thing now is figuring out which teams are actually going to take them.

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