Ever since Morgan Rielly was injured — the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t been the same team.
It would be very odd for the Toronto Maple Leafs to improve after Rielly’s injury, but their play has been surprising since he left the lineup. (Note this article was written and submitted prior to the Sabres game last night).
Since Rielly was injured on January 13th, the Toronto Maple Leafs have gone 6-4-2. That puts the team in the middle of the NHL in terms of points since the beginning of the year.
Before the injury, the team was a 5th best 16-6-2, starting when Sheldon Keefe joined the hockey club to Rielly’s final game.
Now, it’s difficult to put all of the blame on one player getting hurt, but that ‘one player’ is their best defenseman.
He led the team in ice-time, points (at one time) and the blocked shots — before he exited the lineup.
Although Rielly didn’t always make the best defensive plays, he’s their best defenseman and they need him back.
The goal scoring has dipped a lot, but the goals against has stayed the same, or maybe even worse. In the 14 games before Rielly went down with the injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs scored 56 goals.
In that same time frame, but with Rielly away from the team, they have 43 goals. The 25-year-old is just entering his prime and is one of the best offensive defensemen in the league.
But let’s look at goals against now — 43 goals against with him in the lineup and 40 without him in the lineup.
The absence of Rielly has lowered play, but the Toronto Maple Leafs seem to have less goals against without him.
He drives the play better than anyone, with Tyson Barrie close behind him. Yet Rielly has been on the ice for the most goals against on the team, even with players having 12 more games played than him.
But Rielly also had the most minutes by far out of all players on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It’s obvious that he’s struggled mightly this season, giving away the puck a lot and not being the best defensively, but the team needs him.
Without him, there’s a lot of inexperience on the backend. Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren are could get a lot of time, but that could be cut short if Kyle Dubas adds a defenseman at the deadline.
The bottom line is, there’s many attributes that Rielly brings that not many players in the NHL do. It’s obvious the Toronto Maple Leafs are missing those attributes, but can they survive and make the playoffs without him until the end of March?
That’s the million dollar question.