TORONTO — The puck is about to drop on the 2026-27 NHL season and Morgan Rielly’s 14th with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Believe it.
This after the Leafs tumbled to fifth-worst in the league and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
This after Rielly found himself on the ice for an Eastern Conference–worst 92 goals against at even-strength representing a team that also allowed a conference-worst 218 goals against at evens.
This after the offensive defenceman’s production (36 points) dipped to its lowest mark over a full 82-gamer since 2016-17.
This after the club’s longest-tenured player submitted, via agent J.P. Barry, a list of four Western teams to which he’d consider waiving his no-move clause and accept a trade.
This after a 44 gigabytes’ worth of mean tweets and speculative headlines such as “Has Morgan Rielly played his final home game in Toronto?”
Heck, Rielly himself even admitted a few times that the idea of starting 2026-27 in a new uniform “crossed my mind.”
But after trade discussions went nowhere and wholesale changes — plus a wave of renewed hope — rippled across the only pro franchise Rielly has ever known, all sides determined that, well, maybe a trade (and certainly not a lopsided one) was not a prerequisite for a clean slate.
“After a year like last year, there was lots of guys that maybe felt a little bit of uncertainty with the future. But that’s part of the business, and that’s part of what happens, especially after a disappointing season,” Rielly said Monday, addressing reporters for the first time since camp opened last week.
“So, I’m extremely happy and grateful to be here now. This is my home. This is the team that I love and I would do anything for. So, I feel very grateful to be here, and just really excited to get going.”
For the skeptics, there is little sense debating why Rielly is still a Leaf. There is only watching how he is deployed and what he makes of his redemption shot.
San Jose, the most logical off-season trade destination, opted instead to spend its millions on rugged minute-munching veterans Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba. Potential fits in Edmonton and Anaheim saw their cap space dry up.
Reilly never asked out anyway. And shot-callers John Chayka and Mats Sundin have no interest in selling off an established, useful asset without a compelling return. Nor shoving a committed leader and character teammate out the door by making life awkward.
Moreover, with the price of puck-movers spiking like a Frosh Week punch bowl, Toronto’s brass believes Rielly’s $7.5 million AAV is fair bang for the buck. (Bowen Byram has one 40-point campaign and will rake $12.5 million next season; Rielly has six seasons between 41 and 72 points.)
And so, Rielly is back where he never left, at a price and with an attitude the Leafs want to work with.
“It’s your passion for the game. You know, you play a lot of games in one place, and it can become a bit of a routine, a bit of Groundhog Day. So, you just have to reignite the passion. It sounds to me like he’s done that,” said coach Jim Hiller, who began meeting with Rielly in July.
“I can just see him lighter, smiling, happier, ready to go. And I’m really happy to see that.”
Jim Hiller has been a Rielly booster since the coach ran Toronto’s deadly power-play from 2015 to 2019. His plan is to partner Rielly with incoming PP quarterback Darren Raddysh and feed them plenty of O-zone starts alongside Toronto’s top-six forwards, while the dependable Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe deal with the tougher defensive assignments.
“We’re both coming into the year very excited and anxious to get going and anxious to have a good start,” Rielly said.
“We want to work well together, obviously. I think we were both hoping to play with each other, and I think there’s an opportunity there for us to be great, and we’re going to try everything we can to execute on that.”
Opportunity. And pressure.
For smooth-striding Rielly, it’s to rebound from a soul-crushing winter that slid wildly off the rails, to skate for a coach that is trying to accent his attributes, which he struggled to showcase under Craig Berube’s dump-and-chase offence and pack-the-house defence.
For shot-threat Raddysh, it’s to live up to hype and scrutiny that comes with a $68-million contract and a more discerning hometown fan base.
And for Hiller, who is simultaneously attempting to shore up the East’s leakiest defence while letting his offensive D-men shine up front.
“I like Jimmy a lot. He’s got great history here with guys that he worked with before, including the staff and everything. So, I think he comes into the situation feeling pretty comfortable,” Rielly enthused.
“Vibes are high. Guys are having fun, and I think pace has been good.”
Rielly chuckles that the shortened camp might be a tad too short for a guy who missed Saturday’s pre-season action because something was amiss with his bloodwork.
“I felt good all along. It was just some kind of virus that I didn’t really know I had that came up in bloodwork, and they wanted to avoid contact for a couple days, that’s all,” explained Rielly, who is hopeful to play Wednesday versus Ottawa.
In a perfect world, that’s when the passion returns.
“He’s got to be a good frame of mind. He needs support, like all the defencemen do, from the forwards,” Hiller said.
“I haven't been here. I do understand the narrative that people got down on Morgan. I don’t see it. I’m giving him a clean slate, and I'm glad he's excited to play. I expect just a great year. I know for years he was looked upon favourably by everybody. So, sometimes things turn and they swing maybe a little too far one way or the other, and it might not be exact truth.”
One unshakable truth is Rielly’s preference — nay, desire — to make it work in Toronto.
“I just love this team and my teammates. And whatever the downs are, the challenges, I think the opportunity and the ups outweigh them greatly. And I feel very fortunate to have been a Maple Leaf, and I want to continue that for as long as I can,” Rielly said.
“My performance and my game has to try to hold up that end of the bargain on the results side, and hopefully both those things can happen.”
Another Groundhog Day, though, could spell Doomsday.
Remember, Rielly felt strong and spoke positively coming into 2025-26 as well.
“I think when the team dipped, I dipped — and lots of other guys dipped. And I’ve spent a long time trying to work on that, trying to get to the bottom of that and find solutions of how to not let that happen again,” Rielly said.
“That’s part of the journey. That’s part of a career. It’s challenging, but it’s also part of the deal. And so, I think we got to embrace those challenges and embrace everything that comes with being a part of this team and playing in this league.
“We all feel grateful to be here now, and the vibes are high.”
Maple Leafs defence pairings:
McCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Raddysh
Ekman-Larsson – Stecher
Andrae – Blankenburg
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