The National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup was handed out on Sunday night to the Carolina Hurricanes, putting an end to the 2025-26 season and making the offseason officially open for all 32 teams.
On Monday, Daily Faceoff’s managing editor and senior writer Matt Larkin joined Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill to discuss what he believes are the most pivotal parts of the offseason for the Maple Leafs, what could happen with Morgan Rielly, and how he feels about Joe Pavelski as an option to be the Maple Leafs’ next head coach.
“One is just making sure to appease Auston Matthews, assuming he does want to stay, and you put something out there next that makes him feel confident that maybe this team can retool,” Larkin said. “But other than that, you cannot screw up this number one pick. You have been given a gift; you must take Gavin McKenna.”
The sense of the summer is that the Maple Leafs’ roster could undergo a complete overhaul to try and improve some of the facets that held the club back this season. One player that has been at the center of trade rumours is Rielly. Rielly is coming off a season in which he recorded 36 points but often struggled on the defensive side of the puck, highlighted by his plus-minus rating of minus-18.
Rielly remains under contract with the Maple Leafs for the next four seasons with an AAV (average annual value) of $7.5 million while also holding a full no-move clause for the next two years before dropping to a 10-team list in the final two years. While moving Rielly could be tough, Larkin believes there could be another solution if the Maple Leafs are ready to move on.
“He’s not the easiest asset to move, but if you look at a buyout for Morgan Rielly, it’s eight years. The final four years of it are $2 million, but it’s a rising cap world. You get $4 million of savings in the early part of that buyout; I don’t think it’s impossible,” Larkin said. “I think it’s something the Leafs should at least consider.”
“I’m very intrigued by it. I think we’re seeing what the new precedent might be; it’s giving someone new a chance. Just because you don’t have a track record doesn’t mean you won’t have an impact on the group,” Larkin said. “I think for MSL (Martin St. Louis) in Montreal, it was really effective with a rebuilding team because he was willing to let the players fail. He was comfortable with that, and I think he’s been more of a player’s coach. So that’s the question for me: what is Joe Pavelski’s style going to be? Would he be a soft-touch player-coach as well? Is that what the Leafs need right now or are they still too much in transition from old to young because we don’t know if they are a rebuilding team yet.”
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