It’s go time!An already hectic Toronto Maple Leafs offseason is about to kick up another notch this week with the start of free agency and the continuation of an already frenetic trade season.Here are the big outstanding questions facing John Chayka and company:Is Rielly coming back after all?It was easy to assume Chayka was simply posturing when he said last week he didn’t think veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly would be traded. And maybe he was. But this was always going to be a difficult trade to pull off because of Rielly’s age (32), contract (four more years at a $7.5 million cap hit), apparent decline and control over the process via a full no-movement clause.So what now?Maybe the Leafs ask Rielly to expand the list of teams to which he would accept a trade and a suitor who will meet the front office’s terms emerges. Maybe the brass has to decide if they’re OK with receiving nothing of substance in return and/or more salary retention than they would prefer. At which point, the Leafs should be asking a simple question: Why are they trading Rielly?This is not a move they have to make. The reason to trade the team’s longest-serving player seemed to boil down to the need for change on both sides. That, plus cap space and the desire to overhaul the blue line — a process that’s already seen Brandon Carlo and Simon Benoit moved out and Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae moved in.But if they are just giving Rielly away, while also taking back money, is it still worth doing?The longest-serving Leaf, Rielly was drafted by the team in 2012. (Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)Rielly may be open to the idea of going elsewhere, but he has also said repeatedly that he would like to stay in Toronto. New Leafs coach Jim Hiller sounded genuinely enthusiastic about the possibility of coaching Rielly again, and it remains to be seen whether Rielly’s play will improve under a coach not named Craig Berube.Bringing Rielly back for a 14th season might be a little awkward after this public trade dance, and doing so would make it more difficult to bring in another defenceman with Rielly in the mix alongside Raddysh, Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Andrae. It might force the Leafs to consider moving someone else, Ekman-Larsson perhaps.Chayka has clearly prioritized a much different direction in defencemen than his predecessor, favoring players who can skate and make a play rather than big, long blueliners with limited ability.Ideally, the Leafs would be scaling back Rielly’s minutes and responsibility, but doing so with the current group is tricky with four lefties still in the mix. One option is to play Rielly with Tanev. This would allow Rielly to have a defensive rock by his side, but it wouldn’t ease his competition and minutes at all.Playing him with Ekman-Larsson, meanwhile, might force the Leafs to play Andrae, who averaged 15 minutes a game last season, more than they would like. Rielly and Ekman-Larsson have also been a shaky defensive combo. Teaming Rielly up with Andrae, a fellow lefty, on a third pair probably isn’t doable, nor is pairing Rielly with another offensive creator like Raddysh.But while there’s no seamless fit at the moment, the Leafs can make it work if they have to.