It’s no secret that Morgan Rielly’s performance dipped significantly over the last couple of seasons. In 2023-24, Rielly had a decent year offensively, scoring seven goals and 58 points.
That was the final year under Sheldon Keefe. When Craig Berube took over for the 2024-25 season, Rielly’s numbers dipped from 58 to 41 points, with the following season dipping even further to 36.
The prevailing wisdom has pinned this situation on age-related decline. But according to former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau, there’s another reason for it.
In a July 15 appearance on TSN’s Overdrive, Boudreau declared that it was Berube’s fault for taking Rielly off the most important assignment he had on the team: Leading the power play.
“I think it all started, quite frankly, when Morgan Rielly was their mainstay on the power play, and two years ago, they started putting Marner at the point, and I think it took him (Rielly) back a bit. And this was his spot, this was his job. So, I think it affected him mentally as well as anything else.”
It could be that Rielly’s decline was just another side effect of the awful Berube tenure in Toronto. But Boudreau did offer some hope for the Maple Leafs’ longest-tenured player.
“So, I think a new start, with a new coach, if there’s good communication between them… I think he can turn it around very quickly.”
The comments seem to point to Jim Hiller’s arrival, giving Rielly just the sort of fresh start he needs.
Rielly might face competition for power play time
Even if Boudreau does have a point about Berube’s failed attempt to place Marner on the point instead of Rielly, Berube’s departure won’t guarantee Rielly will get his old spot back.
In particular, Rielly will face stiff competition from Darren Raddysh. One of the biggest reasons why John Chayka went so hard after Raddysh was his booming shot.
That’s something the Maple Leafs haven’t really had in a long time.
Rielly is good at moving the puck with the man advantage, but has never really been a threat to blast shorts from the point.
That’s something that would drastically change with Raddysh. The highlights from his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning feature precisely that. You see Nikita Kucherov feeding the puck to Raddysh, who just let it fly from the point.
If the Maple Leafs can replicate that on their power play, it could mean far more scoring chances than we’ve seen in the past.
As such, the Leafs could relegate Rielly to the second power play unit. That would still mean some limited time with the man advantage, but it would return Rielly to a similar spot.
Although, it’s worth considering the possibility of rolling with a two-defensemen setup. Rielly could still sort of quarterback the power play, with Raddysh on the point, taking the booming shots.
That situation, nevertheless, would leave the Leafs with just three forwards. In a way, it would be a bit of an old-school power play setup.
Who knows? That’s just speculation at this point. Perhaps Hiller feels that rolling out two completely different types of power play units could be ideal to keep opponents off kilter.
We’ll have to wait a few more weeks before we see the Maple Leafs power play in action. In the meantime, Boudreau is certainly onto something. Jim Hiller’s arrival could be just the thing to help Rielly get back on track.
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