this wont age well.

Pretty risky but is it possible it’s worth the reward? Definitely only time will tell

A GREAT signing for the player but Kyle Dubas gets worked over like a rib in all these big deals. He's very weak.

Since his monster season in 2018-19 (72 points in 82 games played), he's averaged just 0.6 points per game. That's just 49.2 points per 82 game season. If his numbers continue at this level, this contract will not look great next season, let alone in 6-7 years. That being said, Dubas really couldn't replace him if he traded him or let him walk. That's why drafting and developing defenseman is so important - to avoid overpaying for (pending) free agents. B- grade.

I think it's fair money for Rielly, I probably would have tried to get 6 years at that price but not terrible.

And it was a necessary move. Putting Rasmus Sandin on the top pairing this early doesn't make sense and to acquire a quality replacement for Rielly would not have been cheap. I think this is the right move by the leafs.

I don't even care about the contract, Rielly is not a #1 D-man on any contending team. So either they free up cap space to get a real #1 in or we're screwed for a long time.

Lmao the ratings are somehow better than for McAvoys contract I'm dead

Must’ve *really* wanted to stay with TML, cause that’s a below market cap hit, and a generous NMC.

If that’s the case, good for him. Dude got what he wanted.

He’s the longest serving Leaf by a long shot too. He’s the only guy, players or management, who’s been with the Leafs longer than Shanahan. He was my pick for captain (over Tavares and Matthews) and I think if there was less uncertainty over whether he’d resign back then, I think he probably would have been.

Toronto can't even win a round with all their " top level talent" , and you are talking about a CUP? LOL

No player with a $10+M cap hit had ever played beyond the first round of the NHL Playoffs before Price last season. So Im going to stick to depth over stars thank you.

Alright.. I guess a team of 3rd and 4th liners win cups every year. Can't have stars. All good.

Wow. This is a fantastic deal considering the market. People will complain about the term, but the money is a discount for him currently, and with their window being right now that's going to be a huge benefit. Presumably with the new TV deal the cap will start rising again fairly soon, meaning this should age relatively well as he drops into the top 4 realm.

You also got Nurse at 9.25mill and Werenski at 9.58 for 2 less years

Holland probs be punching air rn

Honestly the market was flooded with to many 9mill deals and out of the majority only 2-3 guys earned them.

The fact we went from 8.45 x 8 yrs for Heiskenen straight to 9.5 mill for Jones really did not set up the Market well as if Chicago had waited probs would have seen a bunch of 8-8.5mill deals with Hamilton and Jones getting deals in the 9mill range.

Luckily i stopped commenting Dubarelli's premium contracts here on this side many months ago......

Kane and Toews both make over $10 and won a few Cups.

Reillys defense isnt great, and even his offensive numbers arent that impressive. 7.5mil isnt out of line for top pairing dman, but Reilly has been underperforming the last 2 years, so giving him 8 more....is a little scary.

But as a Leaf hater- I love it! This just makes their cap situation worse! No depth, no cups, until they start trading off or letting go of some of those stars contracts (and waste their best years).

What??? He had a phenominal season last year... How on earth can you say that. Check a chart, check a statline...
He had better underlying numbers than Brodie even.

Morgan Rielly is an excellent offensive defenceman and puck-mover, who gives *a lot* back the other way. He’s worth the price for the first few years, but as expected the term is the biggest problem as he likely doesn’t age well into his 30’s. pic.twitter.com/T9BYI4yIbC

— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) October 29, 2021

Except when they won those cups they weren't making $10.5 million....

2010 Cup - ELC's
2013 Cup & 2015 Cup - Both guys were making $6.3 million

Their $10.5 million deals kicked in the year after their 3rd cup. Since their $10.5 million deals kicked in...

Lost round 1
Lost round 1
DNQ
DNQ
Lost Round 1*
DNQ

*They did win their qualifying round during the pandemic season if you wanted to count that I guess. Under a normal season though they may not have made it. They were the worst team in their division when the season was ended and the 5th worst team in the Western Conference

I mean when looking at the market value of D this year it's good on the Cap. This issue will be the term but I think that's the only way he got the number low. When you look at how the team is set up for the future though you can really see that Dubas knows it's got to be this year to find success and perhaps just wanted to put a stop to the distraction of Rielly's future for the year.

Looking at the way this roster is set up for next year even I don't know what they're going to do. They have 16 players signed for 22-23 and they will make $76 million. Not to mention Sandin, Liljegren, Engvall, Kase are all RFA's and you need a starting goalie. Moves are going to have to be made absolutely, as just to get a goalie is going to cost you 4. If you look currently there are only 4 goalies in the top 20 in wins this season making less (Campbell, Greiss, Talbot, Jarry) and I don't expect the cap to increase by a large amount with projections of a million dollar increase.

Honest question, how does this team look to get better with this situation because I feel like we are in the twilight of our opportunity here and they're not looking better than last years squad which arguably had the easiest path to the Conference Finals anyway.

Pretty fair questions. Sandin and Lilejeren will likely get 1 year prove yourself contacts, or at most 2-3 year bridge deals at a team friendly value. Ritchie, Holl, and Dermott are all on the chopping block. 1.2 Mil for Kessel comes off the books. Cap may go up by a mil.... still doesn't leave a lot of breathing room but the leafs have shown they can attract quality depth at low cap hits.

This contract makes me smile... Especially after this year's playoffs