Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving has the opportunity to do what every other general manager before him could not do for Morgan Rielly. With half of his blueline pending free agents, and almost $19M in cap space, Treliving will be able to get a top-pairing defenceman to play with Rielly. Nikita Zadorov is clearly a person of interest, given he tried to acquire him before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Brett Pesce however should be the priority if they have the option to sign either one, as he more closely fits what the Leafs need in a legitimate top-4 defenseman with strong defensive instincts and penalty killing ability.
Pesce is coming off of a six-year $24.15 million contract that carried a cap hit of $4.25M and will be looking for a long-term deal between $5.5M and $6.5M per season. Adding the 29-year-old Pesce would provide the first bit of stability that Rielly has had in years on the right side and it would give Treliving the "length" and size he is looking for on the blueline with Pesce being 6'3 and north of 200 pounds.
Pesce is a very good skater for his size and although not known for his offensive production, will give the Leafs a stable defensive presence with Rielly and someone that can kill penalties. The New York native was a third-round pick in the 2013 draft and has spent all 627 regular season games with the Hurricanes in addition to 57 playoff games.
