Morgan Rielly understands the assignment.
With the issues involving the Maple Leafs as training camp and the preseason heads into the final week — where Max Domi and Matias Maccelli fit best, the status of goaltender Joseph Woll, whether Easton Cowan will make the team — let’s not forget Rielly’s desire to return to a level of play that he finds satisfactory.
And one, of course, that measures up with the coaching staff.
The Leafs’ success as a whole doesn’t necessarily hinge on a bounceback season from Rielly, the longest-serving current Leafs player. Yet it certainly would help after a year marked by bumps and obstacles, and considering Rielly has five years remaining on his eight-year contract, you can imagine that the organization’s collective minds would be set at ease if the 31-year-old properly left 2024-25 in the past.
A couple of factors could aid in restoring some verve in Rielly’s game.
With Mitch Marner gone to the Vegas Golden Knights, Rielly will resume quarterbacking the top power-play unit. Those offensive touches, presumably, should be to Rielly’s advantage. It’s where some of his best instincts, theoretically, can make a difference.
More importantly, Rielly and defence partner Brandon Carlo are getting a clean slate and the pair should benefit from Carlo’s first camp under Craig Berube after he had to hit the ground running in being acquired last March from the Boston Bruins.
“With me, there’s always a belief and it can waver at times, but you try to get back on track,” Rielly said of his outlook, and before the Leafs and Montreal Canadiens played in a preseason game on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
“You play X amount of years (Rielly is embarking on his 13th with the Leafs and, giving us pause to wonder where the time has gone), and still get nervous, you have those emotions. I was talking to JT (John Tavares) about this. You don’t feel like a young player, but you still have those emotions.
“You want to live up to the expectations. You want to show your teammates that you’re ready to go.”
Carlo is heading into the season with an open mind. He has spoken in camp of his greater comfort as he starts a season with the Leafs, and knows he can apply that to the on-ice relationship with Rielly.
“That communication, there are going to be times throughout the year where we’re not feeling that great,” Carlo said. “There will be games where we make a mistake, but both of us have to move forward, park it, not let it accumulate.
“I know that he’ll have my back. He should know that I’ll have his back for sure. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to grow with him.”
Following exit interviews after the Leafs were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs in May, Rielly didn’t venture far, spending much of the summer within the walls of the club’s training facility. When he went home, it wasn’t uncommon for Rielly and his wife, Tessa Virtue, to have conversations about his next steps as he worked to put last season behind him. Being married to an athlete with the stature of Virtue, whose haul of medals during her prolific figure-skating career included five at the Olympics (three gold and two silver) helped Rielly put his situation in perspective.
“It’s personal, but I can just say that (those chats) were a great resource for me in the summertime,” Rielly said.
Veteran defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson knows the uncertainty that can be a part of evaluating and pressing the reset button.
What Ekman-Larsson went through two years ago, when he was bought out by the Vancouver Canucks before signing a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers and winning the Stanley Cup, carried more angst than what Rielly experienced this off-season. Ekman-Larsson parlayed his one successful season with Florida into a four-year contract in free agency with the Leafs.
“I think we all have had to hit that reset button at some point,” Ekman-Larsson said. “You play so many games, and if you’re in the league for a long time, you’re probably going to have struggles.
“I think the bar is high for him, and he sets it himself. He’s a big part of this organization. I think he has been looking really good. I like his game.”
As 2025-26 progresses, Rielly will continue to move up the Leafs’ franchise list in several crucial categories for defencemen.
At 873 games played, Rielly is five back of Tomas Kaberle, who sits third with 878. With 513 points, Rielly is seven behind Kaberle, who is second with 520. And Rielly needs just 11 assists to tie Kaberle for second on Toronto’s career list among D-men.
If Rielly plays in in 74 games, he will tie Bob Pulford for seventh on the franchise list for games played, all players included.
“You don’t take it for granted just because you’ve played 800 games, or whatever it is,” Rielly said. “You want to hold up your end of the bargain. Like I said, I have belief in myself.”
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