It has been one of the top storylines of the Philadelphia Flyers offseason, but now a couple days into NHL free agency, they have not yet addressed their desire to upgrade their blue line. General manager Danny Briere wants to make a significant improvement among their group of six defensemen and while he has certainly tried to do exactly that, it’s not happened yet for various reasons.
So, what if they then just move on to their next target and possibly the best defenseman that’s still available?
Flyers poking around Morgan Rielly in latest trade rumors
Morgan Rielly’s name has popped up in trade rumors for months now. The longest-tenured Maple Leaf is possibly having his time in Toronto end as they move to a brand new chapter led by general manager John Chayka and with Gavin McKenna as the centerpiece. They are also trying to re-shape their blue line and the biggest move they can do is obvious remove one of their ice-time leaders for the last several seasons from the back end to try something new.
According to one report, the Flyers are a team who are looking into this and possibly trying to scoop up the veteran blueliner to bring him to Philadelphia so that Rielly can maybe be that player they have been looking for.
“My understanding is that it’s a matter of when not if they move him, but when is undefined. There’s no urgency to do if they don’t find a deal that’s right for them. They’re not just trying to give him away. They still see him within a plan but at the same time they’re willing to have those conversations, so we’ll see how that evolves over the summer. Nothing is imminent, but at the same time if you’re interested in Morgan Rielly, give them a call,” David Pagnotta said on Thursday’s episode of The DFO Rundown.
“One team that poked around a little bit was Philadelphia. And we know that other move with Woll a couple weeks ago. But they want to bring in a defenseman, there’s been some sort of conversation, but they’re wanting retention. I’m not sure Toronto wants to do that.”
As Pagnotta mentions, there is already actual trade history between Chayka and Briere, as they made the very first move of the offseason when goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for Sam Ersson, Emil Andrae, and a third-round pick. Maybe the two just hung up and have never spoke to each other since finalizing that deal. Or, maybe Briere has been barking up Chayka and looking to see if the Flyers could use any of his players.
Both the Flyers and the Leafs certainly seem like the most active teams so far this summer. Toronto has virtually added an entirely new bottom six forward group and Philadelphia has been in on just about every single big player of the offseason. Could this continue in a Rielly deal?
Morgan Rielly is looking for a change of scenery
Rielly has basically been forced to accept that he’s in for a change this summer. With writing on the wall heading into the offseason, the change is going to happen, as Pagnotta mentioned — not if, when. The 32-year-old defenseman has four years left on his contract that carries a $7.5-million AAV. Rielly also happens to have a full no movement clause for those four years but in the final two years of his deal, he also has a 10-team no trade list.
Even with that type of control, he’s fine with accepting a trade that makes sense for everyone involved.
There are reports that Rielly wants to only go to the Western Conference, but not go home to Vancouver but go somewhere in the San Jose or Anaheim region. And while the possibility of the Sharks bringing him on at full cost once seemed possible, the addition of Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba makes that unlikely. The Ducks certainly need defensemen so that is still a door that’s very wide open, but it’s uncertain how willing they are financially to take on Rielly given that they have to re-sign Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier to what should be sizeable second contracts.
So, maybe Rielly can see that there is a spot wide open for him in Philadelphia and on a team that is in desperate need of what he can do well and could actually give him an opportunity to play in a solid system.
Could Rielly be a fit for the Flyers?
So the player is open to a move and let’s say that Rielly would be willing to waive his no movement clause to come to the Flyers — then what? If a deal gets done, where could Rielly play on this blue line and does he really mean an improved back end?
It’s an interesting case. Arguably, Rielly’s best years are behind him but those best years were when he was quarterbacking a power play with a hypercharged Auston Matthews and finishing top five in Norris Trophy voting. He has still had other great seasons sprinkled throughout his time in Toronto, but it’s lately just been some mediocre play and generally being miscast on the Leafs.
The thing is, Rielly is really the Leafs’ only semblance of a No. 1 defenseman that they have ever had in the Matthews era. They haven’t been able to get anyone that could play above him, so there he is, leading the entire team in ice-time and getting somewhat exposed at times. It’s just that he’s not one of the 32 best defensemen in the NHL and would really be suited to take less responsibility.
That is where he could potentially thrive in Philadelphia. Travis Sanheim is already the guy and Rielly shouldn’t worry about needing to play above him. Even if they theoretically would play on a pair together, Sanheim would take most of the burden — and frankly, he would be Rielly’s best defense partner he’s ever had in the NHL.
Rielly would also theoretically serve as the Flyers’ power play quarterback. After losing the John Carlson sweepstakes, the Flyers are still on the hunt for someone that can help their man advantage and Rielly seems to be the best candidate. He was the man up top when the Leafs’ power play possibly the best in the NHL and while it was certainly because of having Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares, Rielly certainly had a whole lot of touches too.
Over the past three seasons — so not very good Leafs seasons — when Rielly is on the ice on the power play, Toronto generated 10.34 expected goals per 60 minutes. That is seventh-highest among defensemen in the NHL who played at least 100 minutes on the man advantage. The only other defensemen higher than him are who you expect: Adam Fox, Erik Karlsson, Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard, Miro Heiskanen, and Dougie Hamilton. Those are some of the best power play quarterbacks in the world, and Rielly is right there with them. Of course, who else on the ice matters and Toronto has some very good forwards, but again, Rielly contributed.
Add that to someone who is certainly able to move the puck up the ice in all situations, and that just seems like a defenseman that could help out a team. So, what would that really look like?
What acquiring Rielly would mean
The one hang-up we can see as to why the Flyers might not pursue Rielly as hard as the other defensemen they already tried to acquire this summer is his size. At 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds, Rielly is not the biggest or most imposing blueliner out there. And even while he has some mass to him, he doesn’t really hit. For all the minutes he plays, he has averaged less than one hit per game over his entire career.
The Flyers wanted to get Darnell Nurse because he does all that. And by adding Nurse, it would also let them trade Rasmus Ristolainen to get more assets, since Nurse covers that physical side of the game they would be losing if they traded the Finnish defender. If they acquired Rielly, there is doubt that the Flyers would feel comfortable parting ways with Ristolainen because of this.
It would be surprising if they went out and traded for Morgan Rielly and then shipped out Ristolainen. While they did add someone else to play in the top four and lessen the burden on their young players, they certainly lost a whole lot of physicality and meanness to their roster and that feels like something that the Flyers would not be comfortable with doing. It would make sense if Rielly was added and Nick Seeler was the corresponding move later, since his third-pairing role isn’t needed to get involved physically too often.
But that’s just us spitballing and understanding that the Flyers don’t want to trade Ristolainen just for future assets and not replace him in the lineup.
So, could the Flyers turn to Rielly as their upgrade on their blue line? Could they convince the Leafs to retain at least a little bit of his $7.5-million AAV to make it more palatable since it’s not like he’s this star player anymore? Are the Flyers actually going to pursue this despite Rielly not having the size and physicality they envisioned in their additions to this team?
It’s certainly not a move without risks, but if the acquisition cost is almost nothing and the Leafs can retain at least a million or two, and then Rielly also happens to be an impactful power-play quarterback all at the same time; then it seems like a move where the Flyers will come out ahead and fix some problems.
Adding Rielly wouldn’t be the missing piece on the blue line or even bring the attributes that Darnell Nurse would have, but it certainly makes them better in the here and now.
