Toronto Maple Leafs sign defenseman Morgan Reilly to eight year contract extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs take care of business and lock up Morgan Reilly to an eight-year contract extension, making their upcoming offseason a little easier.

In what’s so far been a tense season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, everybody can breath a little easier as they lock up Morgan Reilly to an eight year contract extension.

Reilly’s eight year contract will be worth $60,000,000 as a whole, with a cap hit of $7.5M a year. The contract also carries a full no-movement-clause for all eight years, and a ten team no trade list in the final two years of the deal.

This season was the final year of Reilly’s six year contract at a $5M cap hit. Had Reilly gone to free agency at the end of the season, he would’ve almost certainly gotten more from another team, especially considering how tight to the salary cap the Maple Leafs are year after year.

Since being drafted by the Maple Leafs fifth overall in 2012, Morgan Reilly is currently the longest tenured Maple Leaf on the team, and has recorded 59 goals and 250 assists in 580 career games. So far through eight games this season, Reilly has recored four assists but is still looking for his first goal.

Reilly was at his best in 2018-19 when he put up 72 points in a full season, but injuries and pandemic shortened seasons have slowed him in recent years. He’s always been strong in the offensive zone throughout his career, but has struggled at times defensively, especially with almost always being leaned on the as the Maple Leafs number one defenseman.

An eight year deal is always a risk for players approaching 30 years old, especially defenseman. This contract will likely work out in the first half of the deal, but it’s the back half that could become a problem. The Leafs will be banking on Reilly returning to his previous career peaks in the early parts of the deal in order for the contract to ultimately be worth it.

With Reilly locked up, the Maple Leafs can go into this upcoming offseason with a lot more certainty. Their top four on defense is locked up for at least the next two seasons, with younger players like Rasum Sandin preparing to start taking over bigger minutes. Toronto now has three unrestricted free agents after this season, those being Jason Spezza, Ilya Mikheyev, and starting goalie Jack Campbell. In all likelihood, those contracts will be sorted out once the offseason rolls around in July.

The timing of this signing is interesting as the Maple Leafs struggle out of the gate this season. Rumors have swirled about changes if this slide continues for much longer, or if the Maple Leafs fall short again in the playoffs, with Reilly at the top of that list as he entered the final year of this deal. However, with this commitment being made to Reilly long term, it appears that if those changes come, they will not include the Leafs longest tenured player.

Toronto remains a fascinating team to watch this season as the tension between the players, management, and fans gets closer to a breaking point. But for now at least, we can count Reilly being a member of this team long term.