Canucks just got hours away from landing a name nobody thought they could get
Hockey 24/7 dropped the kind of report Sunday that lights up two markets at once. Morgan Rielly is close to being traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
That's a big move for both sides. The Maple Leafs clear a 7.5 million cap hit. The Canucks add a veteran left-shot defenseman to a blue line full of kids.
Vancouver's new GM Ryan Johnson has been clear about the rebuild timeline. He didn't promise ownership a quick fix.
The Sedin twins backed him up at the introductory press conference, and the message has been consistent. This will take time.
That's the part where Rielly fits. The 32-year-old isn't here to win a Cup next season. He's here to anchor a young defense corps and help develop the prospects who are.
Look at the Canucks blue line. Zeev Buium is 20 years old at minus-33. Tom Willander is 21 at minus-23.
Both rookies played serious NHL minutes this season on a team that finished 32nd overall.
Rielly's regular season tells the same story. The Leafs blueliner finished at 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points across 78 games at minus-18. The defensive numbers were rough.
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Rielly slots in next to Hronek and mentors the young Canucks core
The most likely pairing is Rielly with Filip Hronek. The 28-year-old right shot has 49 points and the kind of mobility that fits with Rielly's puck-moving game.
That gives Adam Foote a real top pair. The Canucks have been searching for that combination since Quinn Hughes left the building.
Marcus Pettersson slides into a second-pair role. The 30-year-old veteran would no longer be playing top minutes against the toughest competition. Buium and Willander get sheltered.
That's the kind of structural fix a rebuild actually needs. You don't develop 20-year-olds by playing them 24 minutes a night against the other team's best line.
The Sedin twins know this from their own careers. Daniel Sedin said last week that the best seasons he and Henrik had came when they were prepared.
The brothers understand what a veteran presence does for young players entering the prime of their growth curve.
Rielly would also bring playoff experience that the Canucks roster doesn't have in spades.
The Leafs blueliner has logged real postseason minutes in his career, even on teams that didn't go deep.
Vancouver's young core needs that voice. Quinn Hughes is gone. The room needs an alternate captain figure on the back end.
The other piece is Elias Pettersson. The trade for Rielly doesn't change the rumor mill on the Swedish center.
Pettersson's 11.6 million cap hit is still the contract Johnson has to figure out.
But adding Rielly gives the Canucks a piece they can actually point to. Real signing. Real player. Real fit on the defensive depth chart.
The deal isn't done yet. The next 72 hours tell us whether Hockey 24/7's report holds.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||