Morgan Rielly Took Last Season Personally, and It Might Define the Leafs' Blue Line
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has provided a positive update on Morgan Rielly after a challenging season.
Morgan Rielly struggled at points last season, having dealt with inconsistency and struggling to produce, the Leafs leading offensive defenseman and power-play defenseman having just 41 points in 82 games in 2023-24, a down year for Rielly.
Heading into his 13th NHL season, Berube's new comments indicate that Rielly has the chance to rebound and return to his status as a top player next season.
Morgan Rielly's Summer Reset After a Disappointing Season
Berube spoke to the '100% Hockey' podcast hosted by Darren Millard and John Shannon, saying that Morgan Rielly has taken new steps to advance his game and avoid the struggles that caused questions last season.
The offense side of things started to come later in the season. He wanted to focus on the defensive side of things and be a better defensive player who is more physical and reliable back there. Maybe we took his instincts away from him a little bit. They started to come back.
I'll tell you this: Morgan had a hell of a summer. He looks great. He is in great shape. I don't know if it is the best shape he has ever been in, but I think it is pretty close. He took it to heart last year. He wasn't happy with his season offensively. He put in some great work this summer. I think we are going to see a different player.
I'll tell you this: Morgan had a hell of a summer. He looks great. He is in great shape. I don't know if it is the best shape he has ever been in, but I think it is pretty close. He took it to heart last year. He wasn't happy with his season offensively. He put in some great work this summer. I think we are going to see a different player.
Having found difficulties throughout the season, but having rebounded in the playoffs, more is expected of Rielly in a full season to play to his potential.
Rielly is looking for a bounceback season for the Toronto Maple Leafs this upcoming season, and it will be essential for Toronto to have him back at 100%.
Can Rielly's Bounce-Back Year Anchor a New Leafs Identity?
It's highly important for Toronto to see Rielly be a #1 option both on the blueline and on the Leafs power play. For the blueline, Rielly is the main driver of their offense in transition and is easily their most capable puck mover. The same goes for Rielly, who was replaced by Mitch Marner as the PP QB, but the role will likely return to Rielly this season.
Without Rielly leading the offense from the team's defense, they'll have a lack of rush offense that will force their forward group to do more of the heavy lifting. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the only other real puck-moving defenseman Toronto has, and he's far from the playmaking option Rielly is at his best.
Rielly is now in his 30's, but he's still capable of being a top-pairing defenseman, and the playoffs have proven that there's still a highly skilled player in Rielly, making any sort of repeated setback unacceptable, especially late into the season.
Without having made any major roster moves on defense, the Leafs will be relying on Rielly's offense and it will be important for the Leafs to have stability on defense, and that starts with Rielly being able to provide what he's good at, or the team may begin to fall apart.
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