A recently proposed Morgan Rielly-For-Mason MCTAVish-Trade by Heavy.com is an interesting reclosure of the line-up of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs move an important defender for a budding young center and would move the salary to a team that can take it, while it takes a risk with an enormous advantage.
For GM Brad Treliving, he would be Rielly and his cap hit, ultimately deciding that the attacking D-Man is not the right fit in the long term. The Leafs should convince Rielly that a movement was a good idea, giving him a chance to cement himself as an important contribution to a Ducks team that has added other veterans and wants to take the next step.
That may not be stated in the tickets for Rielly.
Inserting McTavish, a 22-year-old center that comes from a 52-point season, would inject young people in the top-six attackers. He would add a serious boost of scoring to a team that went to a part of the door that went out when Mitch Marner went to the Vegas Golden Knights. Mctavish would benefit under the John Tavares Learning Tree, and Toronto would pick up his future second line center.
In exchange, the Anaheim Ducks would receive a proven best-pairing defender in Rielly. His attack and experience would add another element that goes beyond Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas. Anaheim would take his AAV of $ 7.5 million without any problems. It is locked up until 2029-30.
Do Rielly and the ducks choose to close this deal?
The trade depends on two important variables: Rielly’s no-movement clause and the willingness of Anaheim to renounce a fundamental piece in McTavish, which is still not signed as an RFA. The ducks should believe in Rielly and Rielly in the ducks. Otherwise this trade is a non-starter.
For Toronto, the action of Rielly would be a daring move, and there would be a need to find an attacking defender to replace it. They have a lot of depth on the backend, but they want to score more from the blue line and the removal of Rielly feels counterproductive without a backup plan. You could claim that it is more “DNA change”, but is it the right change?
Finally, this proposal suggests that the Leafs are comfortable to become younger if they try to compete and push deeper into the late season. That is not always a good idea, because youth is unpredictable. The ducks must also feel that their competitive window exists during Rielly’s Prime.
There are many Wat-IFS with this trading field. It is an interesting idea on the surface, but it actually feels like a piece.
Next: Breaking The Deal: A Beginner’s Guide to NHL Trades
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