Maple Leafs Reveal How Close They Really Came To Trading Morgan Rielly
Chayka Says It Was Never Close
Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka told The Athletic's Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston that Toronto never had anything resembling a serious offer for its longest-tenured player.
"At no point did we ever have what I would characterize as a serious trade opportunity with Morgan Rielly," Chayka said.
That's surprising given how loud the speculation got.
TSN's Darren Dreger reported back in June that Rielly's agent, J.P. Barry, had submitted a list of four Western Conference teams his client would be willing to waive his no-movement clause for, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman later reported interest from the San Jose Sharks, who ultimately chose to acquire Darnell Nurse from Edmonton instead.
John Chayka provides updates on Max Domi, Morgan Rielly, William Villeneuve and Cade Webber. pic.twitter.com/WHo7IIRACt
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 16, 2026
Siegel and Johnston's reporting adds an important wrinkle to that timeline: Rielly was willing to move if the right situation came up, but he never actually requested a trade himself.
Whatever offers did materialize around the league apparently never came close to matching what Toronto felt Rielly was worth, and rather than attach a sweetener just to move his $7.5 million cap hit, Chayka held firm.
Rielly Stays, And The Fit Might Be Better Now
Chayka was clear that the lack of a trade wasn't about devaluing Rielly internally.
"It's the opposite," he said. "I've had very frank, candid conversations with Morgan now over the summer. What an incredible person, and he's played an important role for this team, and we expect he'll continue to do that."
Rielly, 32, is coming off arguably the roughest stretch of his career, posting just 36 points and a minus-18 rating in 78 games last season under former head coach Craig Berube, numbers well below the level he played at during his prime.
Morgan Rielly being dealt this offseason by the Maple Leafs was almost seen as “guarantee,” per @DarrenDreger
— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) September 14, 2026
“One of the things that I thought was a guarantee was that Morgan Rielly was going to be in a different uniform when I came back in the fall. So, I’m surprised that… pic.twitter.com/R1eYKyl0Io
New head coach Jim Hiller previously served as a Leafs assistant during Rielly's best offensive season in Toronto, and Chayka pointed to that history as a reason for optimism.
"As we think about this season and what we're trying to accomplish, certainly getting the puck in the forwards' hands in positions that they can then go create offense more often is a really big part of what we're trying to accomplish," Chayka said. "If you look at Morgan's career, he's been able to skate, move the puck and create offense."
Rielly signed his eight-year, $60 million extension back in 2021 and still has four seasons remaining on that deal at a $7.5 million cap hit.
With Darren Raddysh now in the fold to help quarterback the power play, there's a real chance Rielly slides into a second-pairing role alongside Chris Tanev this season, a lighter workload than what wore him down under Berube.
