Maple Leafs Mailbag: Real trade options? Moving on from Morgan Rielly?
Ever a source of intrigue, the Toronto Maple Leafs have no issue triggering a batch of mailbag questions from their passionate fans. From pushing Morgan Rielly out to realistic trade options, from an offensive plummet to skyrocketing salary cap, Luke Fox digs into some pressing (and a couple random) questions.
Ever a source of intrigue, the Toronto Maple Leafs have no issue triggering a batch of mailbag questions from their passionate fans.
From pushing Morgan Rielly out to realistic trade options, from an offensive plummet to a skyrocketing salary cap, we dig into some pressing (and a couple random) questions.
Let’s go.
Are the Leafs waiting as long as they can to make a move because of Auston Matthews’ uncertain health, or is there not a move to be made? Feels inevitable they’ll move on from Morgan Rielly. Not a Brad Treliving or Craig Berube guy. What’s the holdup in asking him which teams he’d be willing to waive for? — @OVO30457
Ooh, a two-parter.
Matthews has responded well enough since Christmas that I don’t believe his health is a factor in trade strategy. Moves are scarce and getting scarcer with J.T. Miller, Mikko Rantanen, Mikael Granlund and others already switching sweaters.
It’s a sellers’ market with few true difference-makers available and too many so-so organizations still in the mix and on the fence. Is Lou Lamoriello, for instance, willing to trade Brock Nelson when he’d prefer to sneak into the wild card?
The other catch is that Treliving only has three truly enticing trade chips to play: his 2026 first-rounder, Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. We only see one of those moved for an asset with term.
The likelier outcome is sending 2025’s second-round pick in a package for a useful depth piece like Luke Kunin, Yanni Gourde, or Nick Bjugstad. That won’t knock the Nation’s socks off, but momentum for a Leafs blockbuster is low at this point.
As for Rielly, there is no denying the struggling fit between the player and the system. Losing power-play time didn’t help either. He has a full no-move until the final two seasons of his deal; he submits a 10-team no-trade list in 2028-29 and 2029-30.
The team’s path right now is to work with the alternate captain on getting his game back. Rielly has looked better and more active during this road trip. Cross your fingers: His season could be turning around.
If he’s a problem, the preferred solution is to solve things internally. Despite the warts, who would you prefer logging Rielly’s 22 minutes? And what would be the cost to get that guy?
What’s the core of their 5 vs. 5 scoring issues? — @ConkyNC
Even with their 10-goal explosion in Alberta, the Maple Leafs have slipped to a middle-of-pack offensive team.
Their 106 five-on-five goals through 53 games ranks them 14th in the category league-wide. That’s a major dropoff from 2023-24 when the Leafs were the only NHL team to score 200 times five-on-five.
Berube has implemented a more risk-averse, chip-and-chase offence, so that certainly is a factor.
But a deeper dive points to personnel, too.
• Toronto’s blueline provides the least production in the league, so Berube is encouraging his D-men to activate more.
• Matthews (15 games missed) is on pace for 35 goals, not 69.
• Tyler Bertuzzi’s 21 goals left for Chicago.
• And while feel-good stories like William Nylander, Matthew Knies, and Bobby McMann should all set new career highs in goals, and John Tavares has already passed 20, the support below them is frightening — and should get addressed by March 7.
Forwards Max Domi, Pontus Holmberg, Nick Robertson, Max Pacioretty and David Kämpf have all played 35 games minimum, and none has more than five goals.
My four-year-old always asks for mac and cheese, but she only likes the kind from one particular restaurant. I’m not rich enough to buy $15 mac and cheese every day.
Have a good recipe? — @puckinleafs
Not so much a recipe as a tip. I’m not so much of a chef as an enhancer.
The elite store-bought mac and cheese is President’s Choice white cheddar. Don’t overcook the noodles. Keep them al dente. Drain.
Return them to the pot. Add real butter and only the slightest splash of milk.
Turn the burner back on while you stir. Add a bit of chopped green onion, black pepper and a few chopped cherry tomatoes. Want heat? Squirt a dash of siracha.
And if you’re feeling crazy, mix half a sliced cooked chicken breast in as well.
Thank me later.
The salary cap is going up, but players care more about cap percentage. It is good for players to get paid. But does that change anything from managing a cap team? Do rich teams have a bigger edge now? Paying the same cap percentage to a player could still put you in cap hell. — @LifesRidealong
Agreed, eventually.
With the cap ceiling set for an unprecedented rise, we’re about to see some juicy contracts that, because of percentage-based negotiations, may cause an initial gasp.
More money in the system and a minimal number of top-line talent could allow upcoming UFAs like Brock Boeser, Nikolaj Ehlers and Jakob Chychrun to jolt the market for coveted talent that is a notch below superstar status.
Because the vast majority of everyday NHLers are already locked into contracts signed in budget-tightening times, cap hell is probably a few years away.
I’m curious if we’ll gradually see a rise in the NHL’s middle class, which almost went extinct during the flat cap. Do fewer rookies get premature looks based on their cap-friendly ELCs? Are fewer veterans forced to take PTOs or league-minimum deals?
To your point about rich teams — the Torontos, Montreals, New Yorks and Bostons of the world — absolutely this will open an advantage, probably more so a few years down the road.
Fewer teams, I suspect, will spend to the hilt. And small-market organizations might be pressed to reach the cap floor and thus might overpay some middling talent.
Shout out Joe from Lasalle. That is one exhaustive list. Joe is kicking more tires than Brad Treliving these days. Ha.
Some are potential realistic adds: Brandon Tanev, Luke Schenn, Brock Nelson, Luke Kunin, Scott Laughton, Rasmus Ristolainen …
Others, like Connor McDavid and Brad Marchand, we have a hard time envisioning.
What’s your top 3 Benny the Butcher songs? — @tonguesplitter
As much as I love hockey, my first love is rap music (sorry, wife and children). So, I appreciate the question, Tonguesplitter, as tough as it is.
Ask me tomorrow, and I might give you three different selections. But here are three from Buffalo’s finest that slap so hard, it might make up for the Sabres.
“One Way Flight”: An ode to love on the road, a chipmunk-soul loop that tugs at the heart, and an unforgettable Freddie Gibbs cameo. “You gonna cry in that Toyota or this Maybach?”
“One Foot In”: The beat tingles like paranoia. Benny brings the quotables (“This work, I’m cuttin’ more times than Kyrie been traded”). And I’m a sucker for Stove God Cooks’ voice. The man is a wild card in the best way.
“18 Wheeler”: The Plugs I Met EP was the gateway that got me hooked on Benny, then I was compelled to dig deeper into his catalogue. Anyone who can hang with Pusha T on the pharmaceutical bars has my attention.
Why do you hate the Leafs even though they provide you with a living. — @muscat776
Why do you end questions with periods? Nah, I’m just teasing, muscat776.
Although this short comment manages to be wrong twice — I don’t hate the Leafs, and they don’t provide me with a living — I’ll entertain it for those who believe I’m too hard or too easy on the Leafs.
First, this “hate” you perceive. I can only guess you are mistaking criticism or a highlighting of concerning trends for dislike.
As a reporter covering the beat, the trick is to look for interesting angles, to seek out and discuss areas for improvement. The baseline understanding for this era of Maple Leafs is that they’re a good team striving for greatness. So, it’s fair to point out a slumping power play, a surprising dip in scoring or a brutal signing.
If I grade the Leafs on a sharp curve, that’s because they have set a high bar internally for themselves. I try to look at the team through the lens of a Stanley Cup contender because that is where they are in their cycle, not as merely a better-than-average team.
I don’t know any full-time reporter who loves or hates the team they cover. I may have not grown up a Leafs fan, but I love William Nylander’s confidence, Joseph Woll’s mindset, Bobby McMann’s underdog story, Mitch Marner’s creativity, Nick Robertson’s work ethic, Ryan Reaves’ conversations, Morgan Rielly’s sense of humour and so on.
I also love Connor McDavid’s speed, Zach Hyman’s humility, Paul Maurice’s press conferences, Nathan MacKinnon’s drive, Logan Thompson’s self-belief, Nikita Kucherov’s wall play, Brent Burns’s whole thing and so on.
Never do I take this job, which I also love, for granted. What I write, I hope sparks debate or a peek behind the curtain, or simply provides information — a better understanding of the team and its characters.
Am I lucky to cover a hockey team so many people care about and live in an awesome city? No question.
But I’ve been working all kinds of jobs since I was 12 years old. If the Leafs folded or Sportsnet.ca got tired of my schtick, I’d still figure out a way to provide for my family, don’t worry.
