TORONTO — On a beautiful October night to be a Toronto sports fan, when the “LAST” button on the TV remote was getting smashed harder than the Yankees' bullpen, Morgan Rielly was also flipping things back.
Back to when he didn’t second-guess before leaping up in the rush. Back when a multi-point, 20-minute impact performances were routine. Back when every critic with a social media account wasn’t pouncing on his D-zone gaffes and wondering if it’s time to waive that no-move clause.
The Toronto Blue Jays are playing for an American League championship, and the Maple Leafs’ most dynamic defenceman looks every bit like it. What was once familiar viewing feels fresh and vintage all at once.
“He’s confident with the puck. He’s making plays at both ends of the ice. I think he did a great job of holding his gap, getting stick on pucks, and kind of moving guys in front,” goaltender Anthony Stolarz said, following Toronto’s 5-2 opening night victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
“We can all see the offensive talents there. When he feels confident, he can fly up the ice and join the rush like that. And for him to get that goal is huge for him — and huge for us as a team.”
That goal was the winner. A third-period sprint up the gut that gave Matthew Knies an option, the twine a bulge, and masked a rather uneven team effort with one of the better individual regular-season showings we’ve seen from Rielly in months.
“He did everything out there today for us,” Calle Järnkrok said.
Rielly also set up Järnkrok’s tying goal, led all Leafs with five shots and all skaters with eight attempts, and blocked a couple as well.
Only twice in 82 games in 2024-25 did Rielly register a goal and an assist in the same game.
It’s no secret that from management down through the coaching staff to the longest-serving Leaf himself, frank talks were had in the off-season: The team needs more offence from its defence, and Rielly is the best candidate for the gig.
Step up… or it might be time to step aside.
“I’ve been open and honest about all those conversations,” Rielly said. “But we’re all trying to build off what we’re doing. We’re all trying to improve off last year.”
Coach Craig Berube isn’t exactly sure why Rielly — who peaked at 72 points in 2018-19 and enjoyed his fourth 50-plus-point campaign as recently as 2023-24 — fell short of his own standard last season.
An adjustment to fatherhood (baby boy McCormick celebrated his first birthday in August), a turnstile of D partners and Berube’s overhauled systems all factored.
“Coming in, we tried to change the style of team: not so much run-and-gun, more control in the game,” Berube said. “He took that to heart about trying to play better defence. And sometimes when you do that, you’re not aggressive enough, and you’re not jumping into the play because you don’t want to take chances as much.”
Rielly did improve in the season’s second half, and the acquisition of a legit, stay-at-home, full-time, right-shot partner in Brandon Carlo provided consistency and security.
“Mo has got a little more freedom,” Berube said.
More impactful, though, was Rielly’s internal shift, a deepened sense of how fleeting a hockey career can be.
The 31-year-old defenceman, a natural athlete who can dunk a basketball, has spoken about how he appreciates all the extra work teammate John Tavares pours into his craft more now than he used to.
Teammate Bobby McMann saw it firsthand, training alongside the alternate captain well before the rest of the Leafs arrived for September’s captain’s skates at Ford Performance Centre.
“It’s kind of me and him going at it together in the summer, and he showed up every day, put the work in,” McMann said.
“He’s still hungry. He still wants it. And he wants to win so bad. And he wants the best for himself. And you can see that.”
The last subject Rielly chooses to discuss is himself, but that shifted at training camp.
Maybe he felt a tad more comfortable talking about his own game because he was feeling better about it.
Rielly attacked this off-season. His goal?
“Take my commitment to the next level and to leave no stone unturned in trying to put my best foot forward. And so, I did just about everything I could to the best of my ability,” Rielly explained.
Everything from on-ice skills work to gym routines, from diet to mental exercises.
“You’re always nervous before a season. I mean, I believe I did everything I could to be prepared for a great season, but you still get nervous and anxious before the first day… because you want to be ready,” Reilly said.
“But for me, it was just about that next level of commitment across the board with everything, and I believe that I was able to achieve that.”
Game 1 suggests, perhaps, that rumours of Rielly’s decline may have been exaggerated.
“Everyone in here wants to play well the first game,” Rielly said. “You know, you work hard all summer, everyone, and you just want to get off on the right foot. And I think we had lots of guys that did that.”
OK.
But no one got off to a better start — moreover, no one needed a better start — than Morgan Rielly.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Kudos to game ops for playing a live feed of the Blue Jays’ ALDS-clinching game on the Jumbotron during intermissions and after the final buzzer. With sound.
Andrés Giménez’s seventh-inning single received one of the loudest pops from the hockey rink all night. And when a 4-1 Jays score flashed during third-period action, Scotiabank Arena erupted into a thunderous “Let’s! Go! Blue! Jays!” chant.
“That’s not the first time I’ve heard them. But I heard him early in my career in a negative way,” Rielly smiled.
That would be April 2016, when the last-place Leafs were in full tank mode, and the Jays were the hot ticket in town. Back then, locals ironically busted out mock Jays chants during Leafs losses.
This one was sincere.
“It’s cool. I mean, we got the game on now, so we got the boys all around the TV watching,” Rielly said. “They have a great fan base, and it obviously crosses over a little bit. So, it’s a really fun time to be around here, and we’re cheering them on.”
• Auston Matthews outraced Patrik Laine for an empty-netter and his 13th career goal in a season opener, tying Alex Ovechkin for most among all active players. Toronto is 10-0 in home openers since drafting Matthews.
• Yes, Matias Maccelli started on Matthews’ top line, but the right winger was occasionally replaced for bump-up shifts by Max Domi and the defensively dependable Järnkrok.
Toronto’s best unit was the only one that skated together throughout camp. McMann–Tavares–Nylander outshot its opposition 9-3.
• Huge relief night for McMann (a healthy scratch in 2024’s opener) and Järnkrok (who was one Scott Laughton injury from being scratched in this one).
The support wingers and onetime 20-goal scorers were carrying 24-game and 28-game goal droughts, respectively, into 2025-26.
Both got on the board Wednesday. Surely, a confidence jolt.
“All summer, you try to work on your game, try and do what you can to score more, maybe,” McMann said. “It’s nice to get the first one.”
• Prospect Easton Cowan made the opening-night roster, participated in warmups, yet still awaits his pro debut.
No issue with the decision — yet. Considering the AHL Marlies haven’t begun playing, Cowan isn’t missing action elsewhere.
“We don’t want him sitting out,” Berube says. “We want him playing. But we chose tonight that he will not play.”
The smart money has Cowan entering the NHL during one of the Red Wings games this Thanksgiving weekend. Though Järnkrok shouldn’t be scratched after a solid performance in Game 1.
