Leafs begin critical contract negotiation with young defenseman.

The Maple Leafs appear to be committed to keeping one of their young defensemen despite the fact that by the sounds of it they will need to pay out big dollars and do so with considerable term attached as well.

According to a report from TSN insider Darren Dreger the Leafs and defenseman Morgan Rielly have started negotiation a new contract for the soon to be restricted free agent

“The general discussions on that contract extension are under way, there's nothing imminent, but there's obviously a strong appetite from Lou Lamoriello and the Toronto Maple Leafs to get something done,” said Dreger in a recent TSN segment.

Dreger went on to elaborate on the details of what a potential deal could look like, and as mentioned before it's big term and big dollars, but Dreger believes that the price is market value for what Morgan Rielly brings to the table.

“Short term seems unlikely, a longer term of five or six years seems more likely, but they'll get into that when the heavy lifting of this negotiation hits full stride. You're talking about a five or six year term and your looking at a dollar value per year on an annual average salary of somewhere between $4.5 million and upwards of $5.5 million per year, which is market value when you consider what Morgan Rielly means to the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

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