Maple Leafs staring at a $30 million Morgan Rielly problem
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Maple Leafs staring at a $30 million Morgan Rielly problem originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering a pivotal offseason.
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After a brutal 2025-26 season, with a new front office looming, the Leafs have a lot of work to do.
And while there are a lot of things to solve, one aspect of their team is likely going to just make things a little harder.
Morgan Rielly is under contract for four more seasons and has a no-move clause, so he almost certainly isn't going anywhere.
And the veteran defenseman is owed $7.5 million per year over the length of his deal. The Maple Leafs still owe him $30 million.
That'd be fine if Rielly still operated at peak level, but he doesn't. So the Leafs have this conceptually overpaid defenseman, and they're stuck with him for four more years.
That doesn't entirely limit possibilities, but it definitely doesn't help.
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The Maple Leafs have their two obvious core forwards, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Those are two players you would choose to build around regardless of what their contract situation was.
Rielly is different. The Leafs pretty much have to build around him, too, but only because his contract dictates that to be the case.
Toronto's upcoming seasons will sink or swim based on far more than just Rielly. But it's worth acknowledging that he'll have to step his game up to be worth the cost, or he'll be a potential reason that the Maple Leafs can't quite maximize their potential.