This offseason the Toronto Maple Leafs have made some additions on the backend. It will be interesting to see what kind of season Morgan Rielly has in 2024-25 because of those additions. General Manager Brad Treliving has worked the phones over the last little while, bolstering Toronto’s blueline. They’ve added Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jani Hakanpaa, and some depth d-men. On top of that, they brought back Max Domi. Lastly, they upgraded the goaltending, re-signing Joesph Woll and Matt Murray, and acquiring Anthony Stolarz. However, the main event of Toronto’s free agency was the defence.
A Rielly-Tanev Partnership
The new additions provide many qualities to the team, but could also complement the abilities of their teammates. More specifically, a potential partnership with Tanev could set up Rielly for his best season yet. Rielly has had so many different defence partners over his 11 seasons with the Maple Leafs. Since being drafted fifth overall in 2012, he’s never had a right-handed, defence-partner with term. Now, he’s got that in Tanev as he recently signed a contract with Toronto lasting six years. Rielly has the same amount of years remaining on his contract, taking him to the age of 36.
The main idea that makes these two compatible is their playing styles. It is known that Tanev is a stay-at-home, defensive defenceman. Very few defencemen can eat shots like the Toronto native. He finished third in the league with 207 blocked shots. The closest Leaf to that statistic from last season was T. J. Brodie, and he’s been signed by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Reciting Rielly’s Greatest Seasons
When Morgan Rielly is put in a situation to succeed and is used properly, he can be a top-10 defenceman in the league. The best season Rielly has ever played was the 2018-19 season. He finished that season with what still are career-highs in goals (20) and Points (72). His shooting percentage was also the best of his career at 9.0%. In that season, he was paired up with Ron Hainsey, not right-handed, but was a player who stayed at home and put defence first. Rielly finished fifth in voting for the Norris Trophy, while Mark Giordano took home the award that year with the Calgary Flames.
In 2021-22, Rielly had another excellent season, putting up 68 points and a career-high 58 assists. Again, he was paired with a lefty for the majority of that season in Brodie, but Rielly thrived on being partnered with someone who worries about the defensive side. However, as the years went on that partnership got washed up and Brodie became less effective.
Finally, last seasons playoff run by the Maple Leafs highlighted Rielly’s abilities. They advanced through the first round for the first time since 2004 and Rielly was a big part of that. In 11 games he scored four goals and eight assists for 12 points. His partner for that playoff run was Luke Schenn, who had been acquired around the trade deadline that season. Immediately he provided a physical presence that the Leafs were missing for a long time. This time Rielly has a right-handed partner, improving the pair’s comfort level of playing on their strong sides. With Tanev providing similar qualities to all of those defenceman, expect Rielly to come up big for the Leafs this season.
4 Nations Tournament Call-Up?
Hockey fans are finally able to see a best-on-best international tournament for the first time since 2016. Team Canada holds an elite amount of talent, and Rielly plays a position that isn’t in high demand. There is plenty of competition on the left side of the defence for Canada. Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, and Josh Morrissey all have a case to make the team depending on their form. All teams in the tournament are required to select their full rosters between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2. Which means Rielly will have to have a hot start to the season, if he wants a chance to represent Canada in February.
Main photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
