Morgan Rielly trade talk has been humming since the offseason opened, and it still hasn't produced an actual trade. Daily Faceoff put the obvious question out there Sunday: why hasn't Rielly been dealt yet?
Why hasn’t Morgan Rielly been traded yet? https://t.co/ALTtvQYPH6
It's not for lack of smoke. Rielly carries a full no-movement clause on the 8-year, $60 million extension he signed back in October 2021, with 4 seasons and a $7.5 million cap hit still left on the deal. That clause means he controls where he goes, and reportedly his camp — agent J.P. Barry — submitted a list of 4 Western Conference teams he'd approve a move to. San Jose and Anaheim have been floated as names believed to be on that list.
The problem is the market keeps shrinking. San Jose was seen as one of the more realistic destinations, but the Sharks went a different direction and instead acquired Darnell Nurse from Edmonton, taking themselves off the board as a Rielly trade partner. When your no-move list is already down to a handful of teams and one of them fills the exact need elsewhere, the phone stops ringing.
Daily Faceoff followed up its initial post hours later with the full breakdown of the situation, still asking the same unanswered question as training camp inches closer.
Rielly himself doesn't sound like a guy bracing for a goodbye. He's the last man standing from Toronto's old core after Auston Matthews, William Nylander and company have watched the roster get overhauled around them, and he told NHL.com this week that being with the organization "means more to me... than it ever has." That's not exactly the language of a player angling for the exit.
So for now the Leafs are left holding a $7.5 million defenseman with a no-move clause, a thin market and a player who says he's not going anywhere. Unless a team on that Western list suddenly finds a reason to call, Rielly opening the season in blue and white looks like the most likely outcome — trade speculation or not.