No thanks on Rielly

Not paying that much for him

mercer for rielly

Well that's the cost of him. You get a 40 point defensemen. Devils will easily accept this deal

Devils have a great LD pipeline and if the Devils want him, they can go after him as a UFA when the Leafs can't afford to sign yet another "non core" player.

Also these mock-trades are cheap. This is all just under the assumption that Reilly would sign a reasonable extension with the Devils, which who the hell knows whether that's the case.

Rielly isn't need in NJ

They have Smith and Hughes as their LD for the future

Devils easily decline

If Rielly goes to Devils, the return won't include any of their core young players (like Bratt).
Fitzy has been wise to add players without selling any of the future.

40 plus

Hughes plays on the right side, but with that being said, NJ needs more NHL wingers than they do defenseman. They are fine with Smith, Graves, and Siegenthaler on the left side

Hughes plays either side and that's common for high level, junior defensemen. Ty also occasionally played on his off-hand. It's rare for that to continue throughout their NHL career, NHL coaches don't like defensemen playing their off-hand.

You’ve definitely never watched Bratt play before. Imo he was the best player on the team last season. That’s a hard no

I think Hughes is going to stick on the right side partially due to organizational need and partially due to how often he plays there in world tournaments and through juniors (will likely continue in college as well)

Rielly can be more than a 40 point guy too, before he got 72 he got at least 50 for 2 years.

With a multiple terrible dman as his partner