In recent history, the Toronto Maple Leafs have not developed many prominent defencemen. Outside of Morgan Rielly, Tomas Kaberle is the most recent high-scoring defenceman developed by the Maple Leafs. Kaberle was selected in the eighth round, 204th overall, of the 1996 NHL Draft.
Morgan Rielly has been a staple of the Leafs’ back end ever since he made his NHL debut for the team all the way back in 2013. His offensive instincts, passing ability, and quickness have been the one spark in an otherwise offensively challenged defence corps in the last decade.
Entering his 12th season with the Maple Leafs, Rielly shows no signs of slowing down. Let’s look at the blueliner, and how he may fit with new head coach Craig Berube this season.
Stats
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 65 | 6 | 22 | 28 |
| 2011-12 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 18 | 3 | 15 | 18 |
| 2012-13 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 60 | 12 | 42 | 54 |
| 2012-13 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2013-14 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 2 | 25 | 27 |
| 2014-15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 81 | 8 | 21 | 29 |
| 2015-16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 9 | 27 | 36 |
| 2016-17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 76 | 6 | 21 | 27 |
| 2017-18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 76 | 6 | 46 | 52 |
| 2018-19 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 20 | 52 | 72 |
| 2019-20 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 47 | 3 | 24 | 27 |
| 2020-21 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 55 | 5 | 30 | 35 |
| 2021-22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 10 | 58 | 68 |
| 2022-23 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 65 | 4 | 37 | 41 |
| 2023-24 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 72 | 7 | 51 | 58 |
History
Rielly was selected second overall in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft by the Moose Jaw Warriors. Despite suffering a knee injury in his draft year, Rielly was still a highly ranked prospect, with the Central Scouting Bureau ranking Rielly fifth among North American skaters. He was also thought to be one of the most offensively gifted defencemen of the draft.
The Maple Leafs selected Rielly fifth overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. In the 2012–13 season, Rielly played a brief stint with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, playing 14 games, and registering three points. However, he was sent back to play the rest of the season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, finishing the season with 12 goals, and 54 points in 60 games.
In the 2013–14 season, Rielly made the Leafs out of camp as a 19-year-old. Having 25 assists, and 27 points, Rielly finished fourth in points by defencemen on the Maple Leafs. Despite being on very bad Maple Leafs teams, Rielly would increase his point totals over the next two seasons, to 29 and 36 respectively.
It wouldn’t be until the Auston Matthews era that Rielly would see increased production in the regular season, most notably in the 2018–19 season where he scored 20 goals (most by an NHL defenceman that season) and 72 points.
Profile
Despite being 6’1″ and weighing 225 lbs, Rielly doesn’t play an overly physical game. Where Rielly excels is joining the rush and generating offence with his smooth skating and passing ability. His quick foot speed also allows him to outskate his problems when joining the rush.
However, he is no Erik Karlsson when it comes to offence, which has been a criticism of his game being the Maple Leafs’ top defenceman. Even though he may not be as offensively productive as Karlsson, he is still third in all-time points by defencemen in Maple Leafs history, behind Thomas Kaberle and Borje Salming.
In addition, Rielly ramps up his intensity when the playoffs arrive. Among defencemen who are currently playing and have played at least 50 NHL playoff games, Rielly places eighth in points.
An aspect of Rielly that does not get discussed often is his off-ice conduct. Rielly is never consistently the centre of any controversy in the media. He also donates to several charities, with recent activities such as donating $50,000 to Southlake’s HERE is Where Cancer Meets Its Match campaign in 2022, launching a new apparel collection with Peace Collective in support of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 2023, and hosting a charity golf tournament this past Labour Day weekend.
In addition to signing a long-term $7.5M AAV, 8-year extension in October 2021, which can be argued he left money on the table, and being the longest serving member of the Maple Leafs, it is no wonder a large part of Leafs faithful wanted Rielly to be named captain at various points in the last decade.
Fit
On Sportsnet shortly after being named head coach, Craig Berube said, “Everybody’s got to feel important, everyone’s got to have a role.” It will be curious what role Rielly will play on this Berube team.
The missing piece for Rielly his entire career has always been playing with a consistent and skilled defence partner. Since he entered the league, Rielly has played with a revolving door of defencemen, such as Martin Marincin, Cody Franson, Matt Hunwick, Roman Polak, Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev, and Cody Ceci, to name a few, and more recently, T.J. Brodie, and Ilya Lyubushkin.
It is widely speculated that Rielly will play with newly signed Chris Tanev in the upcoming 2024–25 season, which would be by far Rielly’s best defence partner he has played with in Toronto. Tanev can be characterized as a defensive defenceman, with a willingness to break up plays and block shots.
In addition, the Leafs signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson, another offensively-minded defenceman. Perhaps this will take some of the pressure off Rielly to be the sole offensive contributor on the back end and would allow Rielly to focus more on an offensive game, instead of covering for the weaknesses in his defence partners. It has been a criticism of Rielly that he does not shoot the puck more, having 80 career goals compared to his 392 career assists.
Just like his whole tenure with the Maple Leafs, Rielly will likely continue to be a fixture on the top power play unit under Berube. As head coach of the St. Louis Blues from 2018–19 to 2021–22, the Blues’ Power play under Berube ranked third (24%) in the regular season and eighth (20.6%) in the playoffs, compared to the Maple Leafs of sixth (23.4%) and 21st (15.0%) during the same period. It is well known that the Maple Leafs Power play cannot convert on its chances in the playoffs. With the additions to the defence corps, hopefully under Berube, Rielly can flourish on the power play.
Morgan Rielly is currently 30 years old and needs 296 points to tie Borje Salming for the franchise lead in points by a defenceman. It’s not an impossible task. However, based on his points per year and age, it may be out of reach.
However Craig Berube utilizes him, Rielly will continue his climb to be one of the best offensive defencemen in Maple Leafs history.
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