“He has a full no movement clause, why are we even talking about this?”

That’s guaranteed to be the first thought that rightfully runs through every reader’s head. Morgan Rielly has never shown any signs of wanting to leave the Toronto Maple Leafs. By next season he’d hit 1000 games with the Leafs, something that has only been accomplished by five other players in team history, and if he plays out the remainder of his contract he’ll be the all-time team leader in games played in all likelihood. That might be the best path for a lasting hockey legacy for Morgan Rielly.

The flipside of that is that he doesn’t seem like a fit for his current coach or GM. While waiting them out could very well be the direction that Rielly takes, it’s also worth appreciating that a soon-to-be 32 year old defenceman that has already lost some of his footspeed is going to have a finite number of opportunities to compete for a Stanley Cup. With a full no movement clause, Rielly would have a lot of control when it comes to identifying the teams that provide him with the best opportunity now and throughout the remaining four years of his contract after this one.

In a lot of ways trading Rielly seems premature. He’s still a very good player and one that at this stage of his career might be better suited to a number three defenceman role than a top pairing guy, but the Leafs have to work with what they have. Rielly could have control on a team with a right sized role and partner for him as well, but the answer could just as easily be the 2026-27 Leafs being the best fit from Rielly’s perspective.

To put things more succinctly, there might be motivation for the Maple Leafs to move on from Rielly, but unless he thinks his path to a Stanley Cup is more likely to come outside of Toronto, there isn’t much motivation for him to move on at this point. As such, the offseason is the far more likely time to have a conversation about Rielly’s time in Toronto.

Of course, there is also a pretty clear flipside to that as well and that is all of the time spent leading up until this point. It’s not a situation where the Leafs and Rielly are discussing the idea of him playing somewhere else for the first time. These conversations would have likely been occurring with some regularity over the past couple of seasons. The Leafs could already have the green light to pursue some limited options.

Where could those limited options exist? Teams like Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, and Boston are all at the forefront of the high end defenceman search. Other teams like Seattle, Edmonton, and Pittsburgh could also be landing spots to consider, although Edmonton would be a difficult cap situation and Pittsburgh has just brought in a similar player to Rielly in Sam Girard. Rielly’s cap hit of $7.5M, which the Leafs wouldn’t be wise to do any form of retention on creates limits that would complicate things in addition to Rielly’s no movement clause.

The other interesting option might be New Jersey, given the success that Rielly had under Sheldon Keefe, but the Devils would need to be committed to keeping Keefe behind their bench and would likely need to move on from Dougie Hamilton in order for that remote possibility to be on the table.

The trade deadline arms race will undoubtedly bring Morgan Rielly’s name into the mix and while it is possible something could come of it, the next two weeks are more likely to be used as a data gathering exercise for Rielly, his agent, and the Maple Leafs to determine what direction they will move towards in the offseason.

The 2026 Trade Deadline Special is going LIVE March 6th. Join the Daily Faceoff crew on Friday, March 6th, from 11 AM-3:30 PM ET for wall-to-wall coverage of every single move as it happens. Get instant reaction, expert analysis, and exclusive insights from special guests throughout the day. Tune in LIVE on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and don’t miss a second of deadline day chaos.