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Top Leafs Insider Believes Morgan Rielly Will Be Asked to Waive NMC to Add Space for Top Free Agent

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 10:49 AM ET

Most Maple Leafs fans may not be able to remember a time before Morgan Rielly, and now, the veteran blue liner could be asked to waive his NMC this off-season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs once again fell short of their ultimate goal in 2025, and as a result, the team are expecting many changes this off-season, with Mitch Marner on his way out and former captain John Tavares no guarantee to return.

Now, we may know of another big change coming, because according to insider Nick Kypreos, the team could end up asking long-time Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly to waive his no-movement clause.

Why would they do that? According to Kypreos, the team want to make offers on all three Florida Panthers free agents (Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand), and asking Rielly to waive his NMC could free up to $7.5 million a season over the next five years.

Even without asking Rielly to do that, the Maple Leafs will have upwards of $25 million to spend with the departure of Marner in free agency, giving the team more than enough to bring in two of those names from Florida as well as Tavares, but if they can move Rielly, it transforms this entire team.

Given the $7.5 million cap hit annually over the next five years, even if Rielly does waive his NMC for the Maple Leafs, it's going to be tough to move him, but with the intention of stealing not one, not two but three stars from their back-to-back Stanley Cup winning rivals, expect Toronto to push hard to get him to waive as they look to completely transform this team.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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