Morgan Rielly is staying put.
The Maple Leafs announced Friday that Rielly has signed an eight-year, $60 million extension to remain in Toronto, the team that drafted him fifth overall in the 2012 NHL entry draft.
The new deal removes any possibility of Rielly hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer. According to TSN, the contract includes a full no-move clause, and in the final two seasons has a 10-team no-trade list.
Rielly has long been an important pillar for the Leafs, both on and off the ice. Since making his NHL debut in 2013-14, the defenseman has appeared in 580 games for Toronto, with 309 points and while averaging 21:53 TOI per game. He’s also a respected leader in the locker room, serving as an alternate captain since 2016.
The Rielly extension is a much-needed victory for Toronto, which has recently seen key players walk away in free agency. The Leafs couldn’t come to terms with top-line winger Zach Hyman last summer, and he went on to sign a seven-year, $38 million contract in Edmonton. Same with Frederik Andersen, who joined the Carolina Hurricanes on a two-year, $9 million deal in July.
With big-number extensions rolling in for defensemen around the league, it seemed plausible Rielly might also test the waters when his current six-year, $30 million contract expired. Dougie Hamilton just signed for seven years at $9 million per in New Jersey. Seth Jones got eight years and $76 million from Chicago. Darnell Nurse re-upped with Edmonton on an eight-year, $74 million pact.
There was no way Toronto could have matched those figures, given how close the Leafs are already to the NHL’s flat cap of $81.5 million. So Rielly’s contract looking like a steal in comparison is exactly what the Leafs needed. Even still, when Rielly’s extension kicks in, Toronto will be committing nearly $50 million per season to its core of Rielly, Auston Matthews ($11.64 million), John Tavares ($11 million), Mitch Marner ($10.093 million) and William Nylander ($6.96 million).