Oilers Likely the Reason Morgan Rielly Remains with Maple Leafs – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

Morgan Rielly will likely remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the 2026-27 NHL regular season begins. While there is still a small chance of a trade, it appears both Rielly’s camp and the Maple Leafs organization are satisfied with the idea of his return. The defenseman recently said, “I just feel grateful to be a part of this organization and this team. I think there’s great things ahead, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”

But, is Rielly staying put because the Leafs stopped trying to trade him? Or did another team get in the way? Specifically, was it the Edmonton Oilers who stopped a Rielly trade in its tracks?

Rielly Was Likely on His Way to The Sharks

Summer talk was that Rielly was open to a trade if the Maple Leafs could help send him to a Western Conference team. The two rumored favorites were the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. The Sharks were also rumored to have interest, but they had their irons in several fires.

Sharks GM Mike Grier was trying to improve his blue line. He added Jacob Trouba as a free agent, and had been speaking with a few teams about possible trades. Darnell Nurse was on his radar, but Nurse hadn’t placed the Sharks on his approved trade list following a decision to request a move out of Edmonton.

The Sharks had cap space. The Maple Leafs wanted to move all of Rielly’s contract. The fit made sense.

Nurse Changed His Mind

While the Oilers and Nurse were trying to navigate his exit from the Oilers, GM Stan Bowman couldn’t find a fit on one of the three teams Nurse had approved: the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Boston Bruins. It wasn’t until friends and family urged Nurse to consider the Sharks, an up-and-coming team that needed what he provided.

He told the Oilers that the Sharks were an acceptable landing spot, and the rest was history. The trade happened right away, sending Zach Sharp and Shakir Mukhamadullin back to Edmonton. It also meant that a Reilly trade was dead in the water.

Oilers Trade Meant Rielly Was Left Without a Landing Spot

Once the Sharks were out, there wasn’t really a place to send Rielly. The Ducks no longer had the cap space to make a move thanks to the Leo Carlsson offer sheet drama — they needed to save space for Cutter Gauthier too — and the Sharks had Trouba and Nurse taking up a combined $17.5 million. Adding Rielly’s $7.5 million to that mix wasn’t an option.

We may never know how close the Sharks and Maple Leafs got to actually finalizing a Rielly trade. We can assume any talks stopped immediately after Nurse became San Jose’s go-to option. The Leafs were left without a trade partner, Rielly didn’t have a team he was willing to accept a trade to, and the two teams that liked him had made other arrangements or were dealing with other problems.

In the end, maybe this all works out for the best. Rielly provides valuable stability on a Maple Leafs blue line filled with uncertainty. Chris Tanev’s health, Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s consistency and Emil Andrae’s potential all come with question marks, while Jake McCabe is the lone reliable constant. Keeping Rielly gives Toronto a dependable top-four defenseman capable of handling heavy minutes.