Toronto trades Morgan Rielly (retaining $2.5M) to Edmonton for Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional second-round pick (which becomes a first if Edmonton wins the Cup).
Why the Leafs Would Move Morgan Rielly…
Morgan Rielly is 30 years old, Signed at $7.5M AAV through 2030 and no longer the undisputed driver of the Leafs’ blue line.. Rielly is still very good…but he’s no longer essential in the way he once was. And the Leafs know this and are looking at this opportunity, which might not come again….
Those of you who follow me know that I am a big fan of Andrew Mangiapane. I love this kid’s game…but yes, his consistency has been a real issue. He’s a strange player in that sometimes the less he plays, the more he scores…But what he brings to Toronto is something they desperately need…because right now, Knies is really the only forward consistently playing this way…
• Speed, Penalty killing, Playoff-style pressure, Secondary scoring
Mangiapane checks every one of those boxes…And he’s not the first player who checks all those boxes yet doesn’t quite fit into how Edmonton wants to play offensively… GM Brad Treliving had Andrew in Calgary and often sang his praises…even to the Team Canada people, who then watched Mangiapane come over after Calgary was eliminated and essentially become a driving force in Canada winning the World Championships…
Why the Oilers Would Love Morgan Rielly
Beyond key saves at key times, one of Edmonton’s biggest playoff weakness during the McDavid era has been they have a pure offensive defenseman in Bouchard…They have a pure defensive defenseman in Ekholm…But they don’t have an elite player who can do both….that glue guy…the defenseman who can make a solid defensive play and then transition the puck cleanly up ice…Florida showed last year that if you sit in the neutral zone against Edmonton, you can largely take away their transition game. The Oilers still look for stretch passes that just aren’t there…and that leads to turnovers…
Rielly is pretty much the perfect fit for the Oilers right now…
Rielly breaks a lot of rules in a good way…besides the “I” before “e” except after “c” controversy…And yes, he does have a no-movement clause…but it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t want to go to Edmonton and take a legitimate run at a Stanley Cup…
Again, I can’t tell the future…at least not usually…so I’m really just reporting on a rumor here. What makes this kind of rumor interesting is where it psychologicallycomes from…it really takes two teams that are both in high pressure and desperate situations to do something like this..
It cannot be overstated how much Connor McDavid’s decision to sign a short-term deal has put the Oilers into overdrive…
There is no tomorrow for Edmonton… put all your chips in now…or risk losing everything later…
I still believe Toronto makes the playoffs… and is dangerous
The Leafs aren’t out of it either, but the loss of Marner has clearly thrown off their balance. Bringing Mangiapane into the top six could help rebalance things a bit… None of this matters, of course, unless Matthews continues to look like the player he’s been recently. Morgan Rielly has often been Toronto’s best player…but at his age, and at that salary, this might be the best—and possibly last—chance they have to move him for something truly significant…
I look forward to your thoughts in the comments…
