The Toronto Maple Leafs have a slew of star players, including their famous “Core Four” of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares. But there’s much more to this Leafs team than just that quartet of forwards. Indeed, one of the Buds’ most important players is the subject of this column: defenseman Morgan Rielly, arguably Toronto’s more underrated contributor.
We’re not suggesting Rielly is a frontrunner for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best blueliner. However, he’s Toronto’s most-utilized skater – his average ice time of 24:31 is tops on the team and is nearly three full minutes more than the Leafs’ next-most-used skater. And he’s hardly breaking the bank on the salary cap front, earning $7.5 million in the second year of an eight-year, $60-million contract.
More importantly, Rielly is a cornerstone component on the back end. He rarely panics, he’s an excellent reader of plays, and he has generated 26 assists – second only to Marner in that department – and 30 points in 37 games. That puts him on pace for a 58-assist, 66-point season – and that would be his best totals in those areas since the 2021-22 campaign when he had 58 assists and 68 points.
Being on the first power play unit has helped Rielly’s production, but he has to be given credit for his instincts with the puck; indeed, sometimes we wonder how Rielly would perform if he was played as a winger instead of a D-man. We’d bet he’d acclimate to the different position extremely well. His passing skills are elite, and he also has the soft hands to be a finisher on offensive plays.
Rielly also has value as one of the leaders of the team.
At 29 years old, he’s in his prime, and there’s a reason Buds coach Sheldon Keefe named him an assistant captain. Win or lose, he never fails to come out and be accountable to the media. And he doesn’t get rattled on the ice or off of if. That’s especially valuable in a media-mad hockey mecca like Toronto. You need stable showings from your key players, and Rielly has always been a mature, measured presence in front of reporters.
There’s little doubt Rielly could’ve done better financially on the open market when his previous contract expired in 2022. However, he took much less to stay in Toronto and give the organization a chance to put together a deeper, more talented roster. That’s another sign of Rielly’s drive to be a winner. He understands the market he’s in, and he’s never lashed out at media or teammates when things have gone wrong for the team. His level-headedness is exactly what’s needed for a Leafs team to thrive.
Rielly can’t match the competitive ceiling of a dynamic defenseman such as Colorado’s Cale Makar, but he’s still an elite all-around competitor and a player the Leafs will continue to rely heavily on. He has a full no-move clause in his contract until 2028, but it’s difficult to imagine Rielly ever wearing a different team’s jersey. That staying power is a feat in and of itself, as the Leafs’ churn-and-burn tendencies often mean players regularly come and go. But Rielly’s been in Toronto since 2013, and in 11 NHL seasons, he’s proven to be the real deal.
The Leafs may trade for a defenseman prior to the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll pick up another D-man of Rielly’s quality. They’ll need Rielly to be at his best if they’re going to emerge from the Atlantic Division in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but he looks like he’s at his best right now. And that’s very good news for Toronto.