San Jose Enters Morgan Rielly Hunt…But Pittsburgh deal believed to be better.
Just when the Morgan Rielly market seemed to be narrowing… San Jose has stepped in.
Initial Morgan Rielly to soon as a trader came HockeyBuzz’s own Leafs writer Jay, doing way out in front of this.
Yesterday,the Sharks created sudden cap flexibility by placing Jeff Skinner on waivers with the intent of terminating the remainder of his contract, that doesn’t feel random. It was about opening the door to chase something bigger.
And Rielly is now firmly on their radar.
San Jose has been patient in its rebuild, but this feels like a signal they’re ready to start adding cornerstone pieces. Rielly would instantly become their top defenseman… a minutes guy who can run the power play, stabilize a young blue line, and bring experience to a developing roster.
But there’s a major obstacle in the way…
The Pittsburgh Penguins.
As of this morning the Penguins are much further down the line with this per another Metro division GM I talked to yesterday. While this jim wouldn’t you tell me how he was involve exactly, he may have a defenseman the Sharks are also interested in if Rielly ends up with the Penguins.
This is one of the more interesting parts of this weird trade freeze before the deadline. Teams have a chance to put in all kinds of contingency plans without worrying about the player getting moved out from under them.
Pittsburgh has been aggressive and I believe they are setting the price.
From Toronto’s perspective, this is exactly what they want: multiple bidders with different motivations driving the value up.
Still, if San Jose wants in, they may have to outbid a Penguins team that has a more immediate need to win now. And Benjamin Kindel, if he is indeed involved as it sounds like he is, is a tough price to top.