Rielly’s Return Is Good For Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly pretty much ended any of the hopes of throngs of the club’s fan base who were hoping that the longest-serving player on the club’s roster would be traded before the start of the regular season. The 32-year-old blueliner has been subject to consistent rumors of being dealt since last April, but when speaking to the media at the Hockey Night in Brampton charity event on Wednesday, Rielly’s comments pretty much confirmed his status for next season.

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“”I just feel grateful to be a part of this organization and this team. I think there’s great things ahead, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.” Rielly said. “For me, I just want to play well, and I just want to help the team. If you play long enough, you’ve got an opportunity to hit certain milestones, but that’s not really what matters. It’s more about the team, and obviously as a group, we want to improve what we did last season. I think for me, I just want to be a part of that and help with it.”

Last season, Rielly posted his second-highest goal total with 11, but dropped to his lowest point total since 2020-21 (36) and his second-worst plus/minus (-18). The 2012 first-rounder is slated to play his 1000th game midway through next season, making him only the third in team history behind Tim Horton and Borje Salming to do so.

“There’s changes every year, I think whenever there’s an overhaul after a down year, as players, you almost want that. I mean, you’re excited and driven and motivated to bounce back and play well. Change comes every year, but you can be excited.” Rielly said. “I think as a group, we’re just looking forward to getting going, getting playing. Camp’s around the corner now, so it’s important that the camp is good and hard and fast because it’s quick this year.”

Rielly Staying Is Good News For Leafs

The Leafs blueline was a disaster last season, with the loss of Chris Tanev early in the season, increasing the necessity of playing bottom-pairing defenders like Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers higher in the lineup than desired. With Rielly specifically, his decrease in foot speed over the last couple of years has made him more of a defensive liability when matched up against the opposition’s top line, but that does not mean that he is not capable of contributing in a lesser role.

The addition of Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae, and the return of Tanev from injury should bolster the Leafs defense under new head coach Jim Hiller, who was in charge of the defense when Rielly had his best offensive season in 2018-19. It never made any sense to trade a blueliner still capable of playing quality minutes, and to have to give up a sweetener in the form of a draft pick or salary retention to do so.

Raddysh will quarterback the first power play, with either Rielly or Oliver Ekman-Larsson heading the second unit. If Hiller limits the veteran to 17 or 18 minutes a night on the second pairing, there’s no reason why he could not get back over 40 points next season. We can predict how things will go, though. After his first defensive faux pas of the season, a plethora of so-called hockey experts on social media will be raising a shitstorm of criticism that the Leafs need to get rid of him, but any judgment should be withheld until the end of the season and not the end of October.