TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs were skating out the string in California when Morgan Rielly began to sound like he was accepting that it all might be over.
For years, the longest-serving Leaf’s faith had been as consistent as the top end of Toronto’s roster. But the team he had represented with such class and grace was no longer knocking on the door. They were a mat, getting trampled upon by a younger, faster league.
Key components were choosing to leave or starting to get fired.
Rielly’s tone was shifting.
He wasn’t the guy feeling sorry-not-sorry for cross-checking Ridly Greig in the head for disrespecting Toronto’s empty net. He was the guy feeling regretful for not sticking up for Auston Matthews when Radko Gudas blew up the captain’s knee.
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Of all the core Maple Leafs, Rielly was the only one who knew what it felt like to punch the clock on a draft-lottery team for Toronto. Except this time, it wasn’t on purpose.
The team was unraveling. And Rielly, at minus-18, couldn’t stop the bleeding.
He used the word uneasy, multiple times, to describe how he was feeling.
“It’s been a challenge,” Rielly admitted one April morning in sunny California. “I mean, when you’re in it, you never allow yourself to kind of give up or lose hope and lose motivation that you’re gonna try to make a push and make the playoffs. Obviously, that’s not the case this year, so it’s challenging. And it just goes to show that it’s not easy.
“No matter how good you think you are, or how many years in a row you make it, every year is going to present challenges and be different.”
Nothing will be as different for Rielly as 2026-27.
All signs — MLSE chief Keith Pelley’s not counting him as a foundational piece; GM John Chaya’s securing a new power-play quarterback in Darren Raddysh; Rielly’s newfound openness to a change of scenery — point that the smooth-skating, left-shot defenceman will be playing for a new hockey team.
J.P. Barry, Rielly’s agent, has submitted a list of four Western Conference teams to which Rielly will accept a trade this summer. (The news was first reported by Darren Dreger.)
The Vancouver native’s next trip to California should have a different tenor.
The San Jose Sharks are desperate for minute-munchers on the back end, and Rielly just shared a Team Canada dressing room with Macklin Celebrini. The Anaheim Ducks might let three veteran D-men walk in free agency; captain Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba are all questionable, at best, to re-sign.
And the Edmonton Oilers’ connections are strong, too. The Oil is trying to offload a troublesome blue line contract of its own in Darnell Nurse. Rielly has a track record of getting the puck in the mitts of all-world forwards, and his best season — 20 goals, 72 points in 2018-19 — was enjoyed under coach Mike Babcock, who always had Rielly’s back.
“After a year like this,” Rielly said at locker cleanout, “change is bound to happen.”
Despite owning a full no-movement clause through 2029-30, Rielly admitted publicly that the idea of wearing another uniform had crossed his mind and that athletes must prepare for it.
Now, don’t get it twisted: Accepting that you’re no longer wanted isn’t the same as asking out.
But he’s not holding the franchise over a barrel or digging in his heels.
“I’ve always wanted to stay. I still want to stay. I love playing here,” Rielly said, during what was likely his final scrum as a Leaf. “I love being a Maple Leaf. This organization means a lot to me.”
This isn’t a snap decision.
Brad Treliving may not have asked Rielly to waive last summer, but the former GM did have an honest talk with a No. 3 defenceman miscast as a No. 1.
The message: Get in the best shape of your life. Return to form. Or things might not work out in this city, no matter how passionately you wish for it.
The 2025-26 season felt like an ultimatum, and we all know how that turned out.
“But sometimes a change is good for everybody,” said Treliving, who picked Rielly to represent Canada at this spring’s world championships. “I still think there’s a good NHL defenceman there.”
And a mature one, a young father making an adult decision without drama or complaint.
If the reporting is true that Rielly may only fetch a mid-round draft pick and might require salary retention, the Leafs lose that deal.
Rielly, 32, may not be value at $7.5 million per year. But can still skate, still run a second power-play unit, and still log in excess of 21 minutes per game.
He immediately boosts the leadership, character, and inclusiveness of any room he walks into. Properly slotted and hopefully refreshed, he’s a heckuva change-of-scenery candidate.
And if Rielly does indeed change his address after 13 seasons, a nine-year playoff run, and 951 games for Toronto, he should leave with his head high.
Of all the men to represent this 109-year-old franchise, Rielly ranks seventh all-time in games played and sixth in assists (451).
Sure, a trade might be the best solution for all involved. And, like Mitch Marner before him, Rielly will go down as part of this town’s most tantalizing core that never finished the job.
But that doesn’t mean Rielly’s Toronto journey wasn’t a success, that the passion he poured into his Maple Leafs relationship was for naught.
“It’s very meaningful to me,” Rielly said. “And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”