Maple Leafs urged to cut ties with $60 million veteran amid nightmare season
· Yahoo Sports
Maple Leafs urged to cut ties with $60 million veteran amid nightmare season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Visit sweetbonanza.qpon for more information.
The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't had the season anyone in the organization would've wanted.
Now, it's time to ask hard questions. Are there players that need to go? How do they rebound from this?
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos thinks that the next move has to be a bold one -- figuring out a way to get rid of defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Rielly is in the fourth year of an eight-year, $60 million contract. He makes $7.5 million a year, meaning he still has $30 million due to him after this season.
He hasn't played up to that level, though, and the Leafs have been hurt because of that.
“And Morgan Rielly, guys, come on," Kypreos said this weekend, via NHL Trade Talk. "I mean, is this the year you have a talk with him and convince him to go somewhere else? Do you buy him out? Is that an option? They (played Sunday) against a team that bought out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter with four years left on their deals. You want to talk about bold moves? They made one. Look at the shape they’re in today."
MORE: We finally know what Sidney Crosby's Olympic injury is
Rielly, 32, has been with the Leafs since they picked him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.
This season, he has played 65 games and has nine goals with 24 assists (33 points). He's got a minus-16 in plus-minus.
Rielly probably doesn't want to leave the team he's spent all 13 of his NHL seasons with.
But for the Maple Leafs, there's no time for sentiment. They can't afford a repeat of this season.
That could mean Rielly has to be considered as a potential trade away, if there's a taker.