The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of letting Morgan Rielly start the season on a lame-duck contract.
The reasons for keeping Rielly on the team need little explaining, but for the uninitiated here are just a handful:First and foremost, he is the Toronto Maple Leafs best overall defenseman. Just last season he had 35 points in 55 games which was eight more than the next closest defenseman with 27. Those 35 points had him 5th in the team behind the ‘Core Four’.
Furthermore, he is a minute monster in Toronto, and Sheldon Keefe trusts him; he led the team on Time on Ice by a whopping 65 minutes 12 seconds during the regular season and was the only Toronto Maple Leafs player to average over 23 minutes a game.
Despite not being an overly physical player, he was 5th on the team in hits (Nick Ritchie’s 102 hits last season technically puts him 1st right now, without Ritchie, Rielly is 4th and just one behind Wayne Simmonds), and 4th in the team in blocks with 61. (All stats naturalstattrick.com).
Toronto Maple Leafs and Morgan Rielly
During the playoffs Rielly led the team in blocks, ice time and finished joint highest for points for a defenseman and 7th overall in the team.
This is all just a small snapshot of what Rielly has consistently given this team – he has consistently been the best defenseman the Toronto Maple Leafs have had. Not to mention he is just two seasons removed from a 20 goal, 72 point season worthy of serious Norris Trophy consideration.
Until last season when TJ Brodie arrived, Rielly always had to play with an inferior partner, and it emphasized his flaws. He is an offensive defenseman by nature but was forced to play up different elements to his game because his partner needed it. Now with Brodie he has a reliable, stable sideman and he will only get better.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to sign Rielly for all of the reasons above, yet even more than for those reasons, he embodies this team and what it means to be a Toronto Maple Leafs player.
He was passed over for captain of the team he has faithfully served since being drafted, he is always up against the opposing team’s best lines and never once do we hear him complain. He has remained largely injury free, and besides, the cost of trading for a defenseman to replace Rielly would be astronomical.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have slowly been building this team to compete and in the last years have flirted with success. Rielly is a massive part of that as someone who does his job silently and diligently. To lock him up now would be a massive plus, not just for the team and the future, but it will allow Rielly to play unhindered.
Contract years always magnify the pressure on the player and can often cause the player to slide. Cynically you can argue that signing him before the season could also save the Toronto Maple Leafs considerable cash if he has another Norris trophy-esque season, which is true. But on the off chance he doesn’t, the Toronto Maple Leafs owe it to a player who has delivered for them for so long, during some of the toughest years of the franchise.
Sign him to a contract before the season so he can do what he does best and silently but purposely go about his job. Set him up for success, assure him of his value to the team, and watch the fruits of your labour unfold.