Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly Injury History and Updates

The Toronto Maple Leafs have suffered another major loss to their blueline as defenseman, Morgan Rielly, has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a knee injury.

Rielly joins fellow defensemen Jake Muzzin (cervical spine) and T.J. Brodie (oblique) who have both been out of the lineup due to injury.  The estimated recovery time for Rielly’s injury is 4-6 weeks while Muzzin may miss the rest of the season and Brodie may return next week.

The injury occurred when Rielly collided with New York Islanders forward, Kyle Palmieri, during Monday night’s game.  The contact between the players seemed to be unintended by both parties.

Victor Mete and Mac Hollowell have both been called up from the Toronto Marlies.  Mete has appeared in 6 NHL games this season while Hollowell has just recently made his NHL debut.

With so many injuries to their defense core, the Toronto Maple Leafs will lean heavily on the young duo of Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin.  39 year-old former Norris trophy winner, Mark Giordano, will also see increased ice-time.

Hollowell has been known for his defensive ability in the AHL but has had a breakout season offensively this season with 9 points in 11 games.

Morgan Rielly Injury History

Morgan Rielly has been relatively healthy during his 10 year NHL career.  Rielly did suffer a major knee injury in junior hockey, but he’s been relatively lucky in his NHL career so far. Hopefully the 28 year-old will return to action sooner than later. (some info from TSN.ca)

Knee – November 21, 2022 (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Rielly is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury.  Rielly ended up missing 15 games, and returned on December 29th 2021, in a loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

Fractured Foot – January, 13, 2020 (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Rielly missed 23 games with a fractured foot.  This is the most NHL games he has missed due to injury.

Upper Body – January 20, 2018 (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Rielly missed 6 games due to an upper body injury.

Knee – January 19, 2017 (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Rielly missed 6 games with a knee injury.

Knee Injury – November 10, 2011 (Moose Jaw Warriors)

Rielly was limited to 18 games after missing the last 47 games of his draft year due to a knee injury.  He returned during the 2012 WHL Eastern Conference Finals where the Moose Jaw Warriors were swept in four games by the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Morgan Rielly was drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2012 NHL Draft, but many say he may have been drafted higher if it wasn’t for the injury during his draft year.  Reilly leads all players from the 2012 draft class with 674 NHL games and 320 assists while only forwards Filip Forsberg (488) and Tomas Hertl (405) have more points (389).