Maple Leafs predicted to trade Morgan Reilly, fill void with point-per-game defenseman originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs headed into the Olympic roster freeze not having made any trades yet.
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The deals, though, are likely coming once teams return from the Olympics and have less than two weeks until the NHL trade deadline.
One name that hasn’t been floated a ton is Morgan Reilly.
However, NHL analyst Nick Kypreos recently suggested that the Leafs would trade Reilly and then get a thrilling replacement for him in the offseason.
“What will happen is that you move Morgan out and you go sign (Darren) Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning,” Kypreos said on his own show. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s already done… Toronto boy, he’s got a bomb of a shot which you haven’t had in years.”
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Reilly, the 31-year old defenseman, is in the 13th year of his NHL career, all with Toronto.
He’s as reliable as they come, having recorded more than 20 assists in every one of his seasons.
This season, Reilly has seven goals and 24 assists through 54 games.
He’s 31 years old and could be useful to another team in a trade if the Leafs do indeed decide to sell.
And if they really do get rid of Reilly, it’d make sense to make a splash with a defenseman in free agency in the offseason.
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Raddysh is having an astounding season at age 29. He has played 48 games and has 17 goals and 34 assists (51 points).
He’s never been close to a point-per-game scorer before, but he has already set career highs in goals and assists and is setting himself up for a huge payday down the road.
Toronto is set up to be active in the weeks and months ahead, and it’ll be fascinating to see what paths the Maple Leafs end up going down.
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