‘This is my home’: How the Maple Leafs are trying to reignite Morgan Rielly

TORONTO — The puck is about to drop on the 2026-27 NHL season and Morgan Rielly ’s 14th with the Toronto Maple Leafs .

This after the Leafs tumbled to fifth-worst in the league and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

This after Rielly found himself on the ice for an Eastern Conference–worst 92 goals against at even-strength representing a team that also allowed a conference-worst 218 goals against at evens.

This after the offensive defenceman’s production (36 points) dipped to its lowest mark over a full 82-gamer since 2016-17.

This after the club’s longest-tenured player submitted, via agent J.P. Barry, a list of four Western teams to which he’d consider waiving his no-move clause and accept a trade.

This after a 44 gigabytes’ worth of mean tweets and speculative headlines such as “Has Morgan Rielly played his final home game in Toronto?”

Heck, Rielly himself even admitted a few times that the idea of starting 2026-27 in a new uniform “crossed my mind.”

But after trade discussions went nowhere and wholesale changes — plus a wave of renewed hope — rippled across the only pro franchise Rielly has ever known, all sides determined that, well, maybe a trade (and certainly not a lopsided one) was not a prerequisite for a clean slate.

“After a year like last year, there was lots of guys that maybe felt a little bit of uncertainty with the future. But that’s part of the business, and that’s part of what happens, especially after a disappointing season,” Rielly said Monday, addressing reporters for the first time since camp opened last week.

“So, I’m extremely happy and grateful to be here now. This is my home. This is the team that I love and I would do anything for. So, I feel very grateful to be here, and just really excited to get going.”

For the skeptics, there is little sense debating why Rielly is still a Leaf. There is only watching how he is deployed and what he makes of his redemption shot.

San Jose, the most logical off-season trade destination, opted instead to spend its millions on rugged minute-munching veterans Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba. Potential fits in Edmonton and Anaheim saw their cap space dry up.

Reilly never asked out anyway. And shot-callers John Chayka and Mats Sundin have no interest in selling off an established, useful asset without a compelling return. Nor shoving a committed leader and character teammate out the door by making life awkward.

Moreover, with the price of puck-movers spiking like a Frosh Week punch bowl, Toronto’s brass believes Rielly’s $7.5 million AAV is fair bang for the buck. (Bowen Byram has one 40-point campaign and will rake $12.5 million next season; Rielly has six seasons between 41 and 72 points.)