Morgan Rielly reportedly blocked the Maple Leafs from signing another veteran defenseman
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
This afternoon, a new report has revealed that Morgan Rielly apparently blocked a move that would have landed the Toronto Maple Leafs a new veteran defenseman.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly been shopping Morgan Rielly to other teams over the last several weeks.
Heading into the offseason, many around the league expected Rielly to be dealt fairly quickly so that the Maple Leafs could clear salary cap space to make other moves.
However, Rielly still remains a Maple Leaf now several days into free agency which has apparently caused the team to lose out on at least one free agent.
Maple Leafs lose veteran defenseman after not being able to trade Morgan Rielly
According to one source, the Maple Leafs were hoping to sign veteran Mario Ferraro when free agency opened.
Ferraro was willing to come to the Maple Leafs but Toronto would need to clear salary cap space with a trade involving Rielly.
When a trade did not materialize as expected, Ferraro moved on and decided to accept a contract from the Winnipeg Jets instead.
Mario Ferraro wanted to sign with the Leafs. The leafs told him that they needed to make cap space, by trading Rielly. Ferraro didn't want to wait for the trade to happen, he then signed with Winnipeg.
Ferraro, 28, has similar overall metrics to Rielly as both players are good offensively but struggle in their own zone.
However, Ferraro would have come at a much cheaper price allowing the Maple Leafs to make more moves to fill out the rest of their roster.
Instead, the Maple Leafs are still stuck with Morgan Rielly and have not been able to make any substantial changes to their lineup so far.
As the offseason continues, all eyes will be on Toronto to see if they can find Rielly a new home or if they'll be stuck with him into next season.
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