Headlines

  • Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers
  • Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie
  • Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky
  • Dallas Stars Sign Mavrik Bourque To One-Year Deal
  • Dallas Stars Sign Nils Lundkvist To One-Year Deal
  • Penguins Announce Multiple Coaching Hires
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Maple Leafs Won’t Ask Morgan Rielly To Waive No-Move Clause

May 30, 2025 at 2:00 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 7 Comments

As the Maple Leafs undergo a retooling this summer following another failed attempt to reach the Eastern Conference Final, there have been some questions around the future of defenseman Morgan Rielly. Their longest-tenured player and highest-paid rearguard carries a full no-move clause for the five years remaining on his contract, though. At least this summer, Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has no intention of asking him to waive it, Pierre LeBrun said on TSN’s Insider Trading yesterday.

“He loves being a Leaf… I don’t think that needs to be a talking point going forward here,” LeBrun said. There have been questions about nearly every player on Toronto’s roster, not just because of their playoff record, but because this will be the first summer with Treliving in full control of the Leafs’ hockey operations decisions. While he’s entering his third season as Toronto’s GM, it’s his first without the oversight of president Brendan Shanahan, whom the organization said earlier this month won’t be retained.

Treliving pledged “DNA changes” during his end-of-season media availability, but it appears that’s less referring to the 31-year-old Rielly compared to the likelihood of letting star winger Mitch Marner walk in free agency. Rielly had a difficult start to the season under new head coach Craig Berube, posting 19 points and a -10 rating through his first 41 games. He improved to 22 points and a plus-two rating in the second half of the year, though, and didn’t miss a game all season. In the playoffs, Rielly recorded points in the first three games of both the first and second round but failed to get on the scoresheet later on in each series. He had a playoff-low minus-three rating in Toronto’s season-ending Game 7 loss to the Panthers.

While the Leafs now have plenty of efficient contracts on defense with Treliving’s work over the past few years, Rielly’s isn’t one of them. Calling him a No. 1 defenseman on a championship-contending team is a bit of a stretch, especially for a player whose calling card has always been his offensive skill and point production. His 0.50 points per game last season were his worst output in seven years, and his 21:23 average ice time per game was his lowest since the 2014-15 campaign. Jake McCabe actually led Toronto’s blue line in ATOI by a slim margin this year, the first time since 2017-18 that Rielly hasn’t been the Leafs’ most-used defender on a nightly basis.

A $7.5MM cap hit isn’t a drastic overpay for someone who still has legitimate rebound potential to the 50-60 point range, but the five years remaining on his contract might have limited his trade market even if he was willing to waive his NMC. Regardless, if the Leafs have plans of acquiring a new top defenseman this summer, they’ll need to do it by leveraging someone other than Rielly.

Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Newsstand| Toronto Maple Leafs Morgan Rielly

Sharks, Andrew Poturalski To Mutually Terminate Contract
Main
Mammoth Sign Gabe Smith To Entry-Level Contract
View Comments (7)

Comments

  1. bhd360

    3 weeks ago

    Ugh. Love Mo but watching him continue to pinch without the ability to get back like he once could has become painful.

    3
    Reply
    • bigdaddyt

      3 weeks ago

      They need to ask him to move his NTC

      1
      Reply
    • Mtog

      3 weeks ago

      Agreed. He’s a great person. Never complains, always gives his all, is accountable, and a quiet leader on the team. But, he sucks defensively.

      3
      Reply
  2. Spaced-Cowboy

    3 weeks ago

    Expecting him to be a #1 was a stretch.
    Put him on the second pairing and watch everyone else sign defensemen to worse contracts.

    Reply
  3. Rollie's Mustache

    3 weeks ago

    That’s a tough one for the Leafs. Rielly almost certainly won’t be worth the life of the contract, and Cup winning teams tend to not have those, but he’s not part of the problem when it comes to the “DNA”. Stand up dude, would have him on my team any day.

    Reply
    • KL

      3 weeks ago

      Agreed. Wonderful person and he can be useful. My hope is that with the rising cap and with salaries dispersed elsewhere throughout the lineup going forward, he can gradually slide down the pairings in an organic manner.

      1
      Reply
  4. D Stewart

    2 weeks ago

    Don’t ask him … tell him! Money talks.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers

    Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie

    Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky

    Dallas Stars Sign Mavrik Bourque To One-Year Deal

    Dallas Stars Sign Nils Lundkvist To One-Year Deal

    Penguins Announce Multiple Coaching Hires

    Jonathan Toews In Agreement On One-Year Deal With Winnipeg Jets

    PHR’s 2025 NHL Mock Draft

    Seattle Kraken Acquire Mason Marchment

    Stars Sign Matt Duchene To Four-Year Extension

    Recent

    Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks

    Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers

    Maple Leafs, Kraken To Pursue Andrew Mangiapane

    Free Agent Focus: Utah Mammoth

    Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars

    Strong Market Developing For K’Andre Miller

    UFA Notes: Marner, Tavares, Toninato, Del Gaizo

    Devils Expected To Non-Tender Cody Glass

    Central Notes: Wild, Loponen, Marques

    Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Order 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version