Through the late to mid 2010s, the Toronto Raptors were unable to get over the hump in the playoffs as they were continually falling short of the NBA Finals, so, general manager Bobby Webster made a move trading one of their franchise cornerstone pieces in DeMar DeRozan. The results were immediate with a Championship title the following spring and it is time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to copy that blueprint.
When looking at the Toroton Maple Leafs core you have five players that have remained over the last seven seasons and that is Auston Matthews, John Tavres, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly. Of these players, one stands out as the guy they need to move out.
Many argued through the summer that Marner was the player to be traded, but he has easily been the clubs top forward as he is showing mega superstardom this season becoming both a Hart and Frank J. Selke trophy candidate. I have little doubt, that although he has one-year left on his contract that he will be back next season. The deciding factor will be how the playoffs go and whether he gets a William Nylander contract or if he gets a Leon Draisaitl contract.
Auston Matthews is a generational talent that will never be discussed in a trade, William Nylander has shown year in and year out being a game breaker and delivers when you need him the most; and John Tavares, is likely off the table for a trade due to his age and contract.
Time for Toronto Maple Leafs and Morgan Rielly to part ways
This leaves one player and that being the longest serving Toronto Maple Leaf Morgan Rielly. For years, the discussion has been the team needs to find someone to play with the former fourth overall pick and that they can't seem to find someone, maybe there isn't anyone to play with him, maybe he is the problem. Rielly struggles in his own end, especially with gap control off the rush which allows opposing teams to gain the zone easily. Offensively, he has high skill, but low end decision making whether it be floating pucks into the goalie with no traffic or blasting one-timers when lanes aren't there.
For years he has been the powerplay quarterback, but he lacks the ability to make the right decisions and move the puck quickly. It almost appears that he waits to get the puck, then surveys the situation then makes the pass instead of knowing what he is doing with the puck before he gets it.
Rielly has seen his game drop considerably this season and is at best the third top defender on the team behind Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe who are both signed long term.
The hiccup that comes with moving Rielly is he is signed for five more years at $7.5 Million after this season with a full no move clause. He has been a great soldier over the seasons and appears to love the city so it is hard to put him in a trade, but he may be the guy the team needs to move on the climb over the continued failure over the seasons.
Treliving needs to find a way to make a trade to pick up assets that he can package to get a better top four defenseman.
