Morgan Rielly’s career with the Toronto Maple Leafs has become much more difficult this summer.
Rumors have been circulating for months, and the person who may be leaving is a genuine one. Steven Stamkos.
With 11 goals and 25 assists in 78 games, Rielly had 36 points last season and has a $7,500,000 cap hit. He shot an 18-over par.
The deal might be ruined by Nashville’s asking price.
Rielly would join Roman Josi, who quietly recorded 55 points and 42 assists in 68 games this season, on the back end.
Is it conceivable that Nashville would trade a talented scorer for a defenseman whose career is going downhill? That is the real issue here.
Barry Trotz doesn’t do favors. If Toronto genuinely wants Stamkos, they’re probably going to have to do more than simply give Rielly.
With the Nashville Predators, Stamkos, who earns $8,000,000, just recorded 66 points on 42 goals and 24 assists.
The difference between those two salaries is $500,000. In today’s NHL, that’s nothing, and that’s precisely why this proposal keeps being discussed.
Toronto’s top six desperately needs an infusion. Even though Auston Matthews had 53 points in just 60 games, the group of players who were there to support him has gotten smaller.
Slide Stamkos alongside Matthews and you have a different look up front, one built for today rather than five years from now.
Toronto won the first game 7-4 at home in October, but Nashville responded with a 5-3 victory in December, thus the two teams divided their season series.
Toronto concluded the year with a record of 32-36-14, placing them in last place in their division with 78 points.
The new head coach, Jim Hiller, who was hired in June, is now in charge of a club that finished the regular season with a 2-7-1 record. Instead of project pieces, he needs difference makers.
Nashville isn’t really flourishing either. The Predators wrapped up their season with a 38-34-10 record, falling on a two-game skid.
On paper, swapping a veteran rental for a defenseman who still owes real time appears simple. That seldom occurs so cleanly in July.
It’s a stretch to wager on two proud franchises reaching an agreement on worth, term, and fit before September. However, the Maple Leafs have experienced stranger events.
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