NHL rumors: The potential Maple Leafs-Oilers trade that didn’t get over finish line at deadline

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers both had unsuccessful seasons for different reasons, and it’s unclear whether a rumored failed trade deadline deal would’ve changed either team’s fortunes. There is a good chance the Maple Leafs’ season would’ve ended terribly regardless of any additions they made, but whether the Oilers would’ve been better off with Morgan Reilly and Nicolas Roy is something we’ll never know, according to Daily Faceoff via X, formerly Twitter.

“Before the trade deadline, the week of, was Darnell Nurse in a trade that involved Morgan Reilly and Nicolas Roy. Now that didn’t happen, Roy ended up going to Colorado for a first-round pick. Toronto said no to Edmonton, Edmonton circled back, and Toronto said no again,” David Pagnotta said on Oilers Nation. “Does that change now? Does Edmonton circle back on that? I think there will be more conversations involving Morgan Reilly. One of the things John Chayka had said in his opening press conference was that reshaping or retooling, paraphrasing, fixing the blueline.”

The Leafs and Oilers discussed a potential Morgan Rielly trade before the deadline. David Pagnotta expects Edmonton to circle back again, as both teams believe they need to retool their bluelines.@TheFourthPeriod | @TLNdc | @OilersNation

FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/0j8tN1mA9e… pic.twitter.com/PZBzepP9AK

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) May 15, 2026

It makes sense if this trade was in the works, as the Oilers ended up adding Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson. Murphy is the much better defensive defenseman than Reilly, but Dickinson fills a similar bottom-six center role as Roy.

Would Reilly and Roy have changed anything for Edmonton? Dickinson was hurt for most of the first round, but he did make an impact in the games he played. Nurse and Reilly have been equally abysmal for each team, and swapping those players would’ve been just lateral moves at some point.

Nevertheless, the trade didn’t materialize, and both teams are left to figure things out this offseason.

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