Morgan Rielly Could Lift His No-Trade Clause For Maple Leafs In The Future

It doesn't seem like Morgan Rielly is going to finish out his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Things haven't gone the best with him despite the veteran still being solid. It is about time for a change in scenery, and that is going to come before his contract expires in 2030 as he is going into year four of eight at $7.5 million AAV.

Nick Kypreos said, "I do believe there have been conversations, whether directly or indirectly around Morgan Rielly and his camp, whether or not they'd be open to...lifting the no-trade clause; the feedback I'm getting is, not at this particular time."

I think that Rielly might want to see how the team does with this new look before looking elsewhere. Toronto has gotten out of the first round in two of the past three years, so they are looking better than they have for most of his career as a Maple Leaf. Rielly will be playing regular 5-on-5 minutes with either Chris Tanev or Brandon Carlo, so it is generally a different look for him in that regard as well.

Rielly's ice time dropped last season to 21:23 per game, the lowest it has been since his second season in the league at age 20 in 2014-15. This is a sign that his game is declining a bit as well as other defensemen in the mix contributing more as well. Jake McCabe had more ice time per game than Rielly last season and Oliver Ekman-Larsson was close at over 21 ATOI as well.

The 31-year-old has a full no-trade clause for three more years before it opens up to a 10-team no-trade list. If there isn't much success soon from this new look Maple Leafs team and a good team presents itself with interest in Rielly, I think that may be enough to spark his interest. It is a little bit of a different situation than with Seth Jones and the Chicago Blackhawks, but he wanted out, his contract was big with multiple years left, and there was a contender with interest. That is the only way I can see Rielly, without a Stanley Cup, accept a trade in the next three years, and it's possible.