CALGARY — It’s game day, and Morgan Rielly is walking around the bowels of Scotiabank Saddledome in a team-issue hoodie while the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs take part in morning skate.
The defenceman has been sidelined by an undisclosed upper-body injury, a lingering issue that got aggravated midway through Toronto’s comeback victory in Rielly’s hometown of Vancouver Saturday.
Rielly’s injury still needs more evaluation.
It won’t be Monday in Calgary or Tuesday in Edmonton. The team isn’t certain when he’ll play again.
The NHL’s Olympic pause will be welcome.
“The break will obviously do him a lot of good, getting a reset here and getting back and healthy and fresh going forward here,” coach Craig Berube said Monday.
“It's a loss for the team, him not being there tonight.”
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Rielly’s critics — a growing subset of Leafs Nation these days — will note how well Toronto tilted the ice against the Canucks in a dominant third period with Rielly getting treated in the back.
The 31-year-old defenceman has put up 31 points in 54 games, but his own-zone struggles have been well documented.
No NHLer has been on the ice for more even-strength goals against (73) than the Leafs’ highest-paid defender, who is locked up through 2029-30 with full trade protection. (Calgary’s MacKenzie Weegar has been on for the second most, 65.)
“Well, I think anytime you have some sort of lingering injury — I’m not even calling an injury because he was playing — it affects your play, for sure,” Berube said.
“Listen, I know we talk about his play a lot. But I think if you look at our team’s play during that stretch where we weren’t doing very well, he’s just part of it.”
As the Maple Leafs begin accepting their status as trade deadline sellers, questions over a deeper change to the core have risen to the surface.
A 13-year veteran, Rielly has never started a greater portion of his shifts in the offensive zone (69.3 per cent). Yet he is a minus-17 this season, which was positioned to be a bounce-back from his dash-8 performance last season.
Ex-Leaf Nazem Kadri knows well how it feels to be the one taking heat under the Toronto magnifying glass.
“Hey, in a lot of Canadian markets, especially there, things can fluctuate a lot from week to week. So, I’m sure he’s gonna be able to find his game. He’s a great player, and I know he will,” Kadri says of his friend.
“He’s a great leader, great friend. Awesome guy. Fun to be around. Good in the room. You know, I think he’s a heckuva defenceman, too. Been that way his whole career with Toronto. He’s up there amongst the best in the franchise. So, he’s a guy I respect.”
Rielly and respect go hand in hand.
You won’t find anyone in the league questioning his character, leadership, or love for the team that drafted him.
“Losing Mo, it’s a big loss for us. Obviously, a big part of this team and organization. So, we need everybody in the back end to step up and fill those big minutes and that role,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said.
“Awesome guy. Awesome teammate. He takes a lot of pride in pulling that jersey on and being a good leader for us. And as a new guy coming in, he was one of those guys that helped me out, just to feel welcome and feel like home. Mo is unbelievable and an unbelievable player for us. He’s been fun to play with.”
Increasingly, though, he’s been too fun to play against.
Rielly has lost a step on the ice. He’s missed too many checks. And his power-play shot is not enough of a threat from the point.
How the Leafs perform without him, and how refreshed Rielly looks upon his much-needed reset and return, could inform where things go next season.
One-Timers: Marshall Rifai played less than 10 minutes Saturday in his season debut, and he’s already back out of the lineup. Berube is going with Philippe Myers and Simon Benoit as his third pairing…. Rookie Easton Cowan will be scratched for a second straight game… Berube on his decision to start Joseph Woll: “I just like putting him back in there. He's got a little momentum. I think he's feeling good about his game.”
Maple Leafs projected lineup Monday in Calgary:
McMann – Matthews – Domi
Maccelli – Tavares – Nylander
Knies – Roy – Robertson
Lorentz – Laughton – Järnkrok
McCabe – Carlo
Ekman-Larsson – Stecher
Benoit – Myers
Extra: Rifai
Woll starts
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