NHL-ийн улирлын өмнөх томоохон өөрчлөлтүүдийн дунд багийн ахмад хамгаалагч Морган Райлли Торонто Мэйпл Лифс-ийн бүрэлдэхүүнд үргэлжлүүлэн тоглохоор боллоо.
Торонто Мэйпл Лифс-ийн ерөнхий менежер Жон Чайка багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд хийсэн өөрчлөлтүүдийн үеэр Райллиг солилцох нухацтай санал ирээгүй бөгөөд 32 настай хамгаалагчийн ур чадвар багийн ирээдүйн зорилгод чухал үүрэгтэй хэмээн онцолжээ. Райлли нь 2013-14 оны улирлаас хойш тус багт тогтвортой тоглож ирсэн бөгөөд түүний 7.5 сая долларын цалингийн хязгаар дахь нөлөөлөл нь NHL-ийн өнөөгийн нөхцөл байдалд багт ихээхэн ач холбогдолтой юм.
Дасгалжуулагчийн суудалд гарсан өөрчлөлт нь Райллигийн тоглолтод эерэг нөлөө үзүүлнэ гэж үзэж байна. Өмнөх дасгалжуулагч Крейг Берубегийн үед тааруухан тоглолт үзүүлсэн бол шинэ дасгалжуулагч Жим Хиллер нь 2018-19 оны улиралд Райллиг 20 гоол, 72 оноотойгоор карьерынхаа оргил үеийг үзүүлэхэд нь туслах дасгалжуулагчаар ажиллаж байсан туршлагатай.
Шинэ бүрэлдэхүүнд Даррен Рэддиш, Крис Танев нар нэмэгдсэнээр Райллигийн талбай дээр өнгөрүүлэх ачааллыг оновчтой хуваарилах боломж бүрдэж байна. Райлли одоогийн байдлаар NHL-ийн үндсэн улиралд 951 тоглолтод оролцож, 549 оноо авсан үзүүлэлтээрээ Торонто Мэйпл Лифс-ийн түүхэн дэх шилдэг хамгаалагчдын нэгээр эрэмбэлэгдэж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
TORONTO — Amid the uncertainty hanging over the Toronto Maple Leafs this spring, Morgan Rielly openly acknowledged that he was prepared for the possibility that his extended run with the organization might be coming to an end.
Yet the team’s longest-tenured player remains on the roster with training camp set to open this week.
So, what happened?
“At no point did we ever have what I would characterize as a serious trade opportunity with Morgan Rielly,” Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka told The Athletic during a recent interview.
There are multiple reasons for that.
While Rielly did provide the Leafs with a handful of potential destinations he was willing to waive his no-movement clause for at season’s end, according to league sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity about discussions that are not public, he never expressed a desire to leave Toronto. The 32-year-old defenseman considers the city home, having been a mainstay with the Leafs since the 2013-14 season.
And on the other side of that equation, Chayka wasn’t simply going to give Rielly away for the sake of making a change after taking over from Brad Treliving in early May. The Leafs had a lot of potential balls in the air during a busy summer but still saw a clear need in their lineup for Rielly when the dust settled, especially with his $7.5 million cap hit looking better and better in the NHL’s surging cap environment.
Chayka values the qualities that have long been a hallmark of Rielly’s game and would only have pulled the trigger on a trade he felt opened a pathway for the Leafs to take a meaningful step forward.
“As we think about this season and what we’re trying to accomplish and do, certainly getting the puck in the forwards’ hands in positions that they can then go create offense more often is a really big part of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Chayka said. “If you look at Morgan’s career, he’s been able to skate, move the puck and create offense. So at no point was this some situation where we didn’t want Morgan Rielly or we don’t value Morgan Rielly. It’s the opposite.
“I’ve had very frank, candid conversations with Morgan now over the summer. Like, what an incredible person, and he’s played an important role for this team, and we expect he’ll continue to do that. We’re in a good spot — he’s ready to go for camp and just looking forward.”
Morgan Rielly is set to return to the Leafs for a 14th season. (Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)
There are reasons to believe Rielly can bounce back in one way or another this season.
Most significant of all is a change behind the bench. Rielly had arguably the two worst seasons of his NHL career under Craig Berube, who was fired as coach in May. In steps Jim Hiller, who served as an assistant coach with the Leafs when Rielly had his best season in the NHL, a 20-goal, 72-point showing in the 2018-19 campaign that earned him a fifth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting.
Hiller raved about Rielly at his introductory news conference in June and said he hoped no trade would occur.
“I’m really excited for the chance to get to coach him again,” Hiller said.
Berube’s cautious ground-and-pound style never suited Rielly. And because the Leafs were increasingly getting battered on the shot clock and buried in their own end, Rielly spent too much time in the end of the ice where he is least effective. If Hiller succeeds in getting the Leafs to defend better — and, crucially, defend less — Rielly will be better positioned to do what he does best, and that’s prime the offense with his legs and playmaking ability.
In the past couple of years, the Leafs had three defensemen — Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Rielly — more or less sharing minutes equally at five-on-five. But with Darren Raddysh on board now as the clear-cut No. 1, and Chris Tanev potentially returning from a season of injuries, the Leafs may be able to scale back Rielly’s nightly workload, both in the quantity and quality of his minutes.
Rielly averaged around 21 minutes per game in the past two seasons, just shy of McCabe for tops on the team. If McCabe joins Raddysh on a refashioned top pair, there’s a chance Rielly may get a more extended look with Tanev, just the kind of steady defenseman he has typically had success with and an upgrade over Brandon Carlo, Rielly’s most frequent partner last season.
And while Raddysh will probably bump Rielly from the top power-play unit, the two figure to line up together regularly for offensive-zone faceoffs at five-on-five. Raddysh’s big shot could open up space for Rielly to operate at that end of the ice.
An improved cast of defenders at forward can’t hurt Rielly’s prospects on that side of things, either.
It’s also possible, of course, that the past two seasons were only partly about an awkward fit under Berube and that Rielly’s struggles were also simply the beginnings of decline. Rielly turned 32 in March and has suited up in over 1,000 games for the Leafs between the regular season and playoffs. Tanev’s health is also far from a sure thing. If he’s unavailable, Rielly may be forced to play alongside another lefty, such as Ekman-Larsson, yet again.
Chayka met with Rielly in mid-July to discuss his continued role in the organization and came away impressed with his strong commitment to the Leafs. He’s a consummate pro who was undeterred by the trade chatter and ambiguity about his future.
“He’s just very grateful for his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Chayka said. “Like, it’s very important to him. He loves it. Again, there’s been times I’m sure he’s shared where he’s thought about different things or whatnot, but ultimately his heart’s with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I have no doubt about that.
“It’s one thing to talk about his heart. On the ice, we think he brings really valuable components. The moves we made and the structure of the team, hopefully we can now put him in a position to have success and positions where it takes his skill set and brings that across to the whole team.”
Rielly enters this season sitting at 951 regular-season games played — third only to Tim Horton (1,184) and Börje Salming (1,099) among defensemen in franchise history. His 549 career points sit second to Salming’s 768.
With four years remaining on his contract, Rielly could find himself in rarefied air if he ends up playing most or all of that time in Toronto, unlikely as that may have once seemed.
