Well, if you can convince Rielly to waive and work a deal with Vancouver to take him (preferably zero retention) and get some assets in return, then I nominate you as the next executive assistant to the assistant general manager.
The Leafs don’t need to get gold in return for Rielly. They just need a little extra cap space and to fill gaps in the line-up. I don’t think it requires anything special to get him to waive. They just need to sit down with him and tell him he’s not part of the future plans of the team. At that point, he starts picking places he would like to land in.
Blueger has a $1.8m caphit for next season and then UFA after that.
Myers has a $3m caphit until 2027 and then UFA, and he’s 35 right now, BTW.
Which is perfect for the Leafs. Blueger gives the Leafs a Cup winning 4C who can play the PK and with speed.
Myers gives the Leafs another big body, RHD, who can PK and defend. Maybe gives the Leafs another PP option with his point shot.
So, you would be taking on $4.8m in cap and shooting Rielly’s $7.5m caphit into the Sun… which runs until 2030 by the way, so I hope the Canucks really really want him with no retention.
As I said earlier, they’ll probably end up losing Hughes one way or another by 2030. He doesn’t want to stay in Vancouver. Rielly is at least a hometown guy.
You would be gaining $2.2m in free cap. That’s a nice little piece of change that gets you another bottom sixer or #3-#5 dman.
And that extra cap space would go to either Dumoulin or Brent Burns (hometown discount). Dumoulin gives the Leafs another steady Cup winner with a bit of size and defensive awareness.
At the moment, the Leafs have 3 LHD in OEL, McCabe and Benoit. None of them are #1 D, that’s for certain. However, the Leafs lack 3 RHD.
A big source of the Leafs defensive issues is that they had OEL playing on the right side and it significantly lowered his ability to move the puck effectively.
OEL / Tanev
McCabe / Myers
Dumoulin or Burns / Carlo
Benoit
The problem I see here is, Myers is definitely not a top pair guy. And that still leaves you without a true #1 dman, which Rielly was at least cosplaying as on the Leafs. Blueger is basically a plug and is a noshow in the playoffs, so I guess he’s a little cheaper than Kampf.
None of this solves the root issue on defense – the Leafs don’t have a rock or warhorse. They don’t have a true #1. Rielly is trying and failing. Shooting him into the Sun, but taking back almost $5m in cap on a 35 year old dman and Kampf-lite doesn’t feel like a big upgrade, although you get free of Rielly’s cap from years 2027 onward.
This gives the Leafs the ability to deploy 3 sets of evenly LHD/RHD pairs that can each play 20 min each. Ideally, it would be nice if the Leafs had a guy like Seth Jones (Leafs were too stupid to acquire him) or some other minute munching top pair D. But unfortunately, those guys are A) not available and B) not within the budget.
On further reflection, I think it might be better if Rielly gets a coke habit.
There’s plenty of fentanyl in Vancouver and Seattle, he can do whatever he wants as soon as he’s off the Leafs cap.