Morgan Rielly recommits to the Maple Leafs while his old role disappears around him

Appearing at Hockey Night in Brampton, Morgan Rielly was pressed about trade rumours and committed to the team despite losing his quarterback role this summer.

Hockey Night in Brampton was a rousing success with Morgan Rielly and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier captaining the two sides, while Leafs alumni including Gary Roberts, Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour were among those involved behind the benches.

Raddysh can take Rielly's old job without actually replacing him

But it was Rielly who had the most attention drawn on him by the media given the immense amount of trade speculation this summer, and though there has not been a trade yet - it doesn't mean one won't occur at some point and Rielly was asked his feelings on the entire situation.

Rielly, ever the professional, once again committed to the Maple Leafs and is looking forward to getting things going this season despite all the chatter:

I just feel grateful to be 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.

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Raddysh's arrival gives Toronto the option to reduce Rielly's offensive burden without reducing his importance. If Raddysh takes over the first power-play unit, Hiller can use Rielly more heavily at five-on-five and in situations that better suit what he still does well.

Giving him more 5v5 chances where he thrives while letting Raddysh handle power-play duties is a good start, and there has been a debate on whether or not they should use Rielly as a hybrid winger/defender like Dustin Byfuglien or Brent Burns.

They don't need to play through Rielly anymore not just because they added Raddysh, but they also added Gavin McKenna, who will add another dynamic on the power-play. So giving him a different look and different matchups could exploit them enough to give Rielly an offensive push.

Rielly's 1,000 game milestone arrives during a season that determines his future in Toronto

Though, there is a very important event that Rielly can reach this season that would make a redemption arc so much sweeter - 1,000 games. He's only 49 away from that milestone and the fact he's done it with one team through all the criticism and trade speculation, it's impressive nonetheless.

It's the biggest milestone he can hit right now in his career and a significant milestone arriving at the same time Rielly's responsibilities could change more than they have in years.

Since 2012, For most of his NHL career, Rielly was asked to be Toronto's primary puck-moving and offensive defenceman and Raddysh's arrival could finally allow the Leafs to separate Rielly's value from whether he can still carry that responsibility himself.

Rielly has averaged 22:03 TOI for his career, though his past two seasons have seen him dip below that average. If he is going to be getting a new role, then that number may dip again though if the offence picks up then it's a worthy trade off.

If he takes things in stride and manages to be a great complement to the offence and accept his duties as a second-pairing defender then he could thrive. There was a lot of pressure on Rielly to do it all, but now there's a chance to let him focus on what he does best - and if he can be a clutch playoff performer as he has been previously it will rewrite his legacy in Toronto.

Rielly has made it clear he still wants to be part of what Toronto is building. Now the question is whether a smaller offensive burden can actually extend his value to the Maple Leafs.

He no longer needs to prove he can carry the blue line; he needs to prove he can make the team better without having to.

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