The Maple Leafs can replace a declining Morgan Rielly without a long-term commitment

The Toronto Maple Leafs need a puck-moving defender and Vince Dunn is the perfect choice to give them not only a new top-four option but help balance the lineup.

With the Maple Leafs needing a replacement for Morgan Rielly, they need to make a deal to bring in someone reliable who can finally give them offence from the blueline. Vince Dunn has averaged 56 points per 82 games over the past four seasons. He's only 29 and has a year remaining on his contract at $7.35 million - the fit makes sense.

Rielly's status with the Maple Leafs is currently up in the air knowing that right now he's focused on the IIHF World Championships.

From a culture standpoint, losing Rielly hurts because he has been through the wringer in Toronto and has worn a smile on his face the entire time. But his on-ice product has regressed considerably and his defensive liabilities are becoming a serious problem for the Maple Leafs.

Vince Dunn is younger, more reliable and a cheaper commitment than Morgan Rielly

With him likely headed out of town this summer, the team needs a replacement. Names like Dougie Hamilton, Darren Raddysh and Mason Lohrei have all been named as potential candidates, though there's another that they should take a serious look at: Vince Dunn.

Dunn, 29, had yet another great season with Seattle. In 81 games he put up 44 points (11 goals, 33 assists), 86 blocks and 21 power-play points though was minus-24. That may scare some, but he holds a career plus-10 rating and a solid defensive partner would help immensely.

To be fair to Dunn however, his partner was Adam Larsson and the typically staunch defender was nowhere near as effective this season, going from plus-22 to an even-zero rating.

But the reason he's better than Rielly is that he's younger, more consistent and reliable offensively, and most importantly - not a huge commitment.

Dunn does make a fair bit of money at $7.35-million so it's a similar contract to Rielly, however he's a free agent in 2027, so you're only committing for a year. At that point, if he's a great fit then you can extend him, or if not then it's no real loss for Toronto.

Seattle is going through a lot of changes and may want to make a few splashes now that Ron Francis is out of town. If Dunn is available, then trading a young player like Nick Robertson along with defensive prospect Noah Chadwick and a 2027 third-rounder would give Toronto what they need and Seattle the pieces for a rebuild.

How adding Vince Dunn to the blueline gives the Maple Leafs their most balanced group in years

If the Maple Leafs make a move to also bring in a name like Darren Raddysh to help solidify their offence on the blueline then we could be looking at a very scary defensive group:

Dunn - Raddysh
McCabe - Tanev
Ekman-Larsson - Carlo

That first pair is not only your offensive juggernaut but also decent enough defensively. You could also simply swap McCabe with Dunn though the pairing of McCabe and Tanev has been extremely efficient.

You get to move Carlo down to the 3D pair where he probably fits better with the Maple Leafs and it's not like he's lacking a partner as OEL was Toronto's best defender last season without question.

When you're adding a genuine top-four puck mover for only a year, and opening your salary books up for the future is no small feat, but the Maple Leafs can do it if they make a push for Dunn.

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Chris Tanev is getting older and the Maple Leafs already have the perfect prospect to take his place