The season for the Toronto Maple Leafs has officially come to a close, and it’s the first year since 2016, the same season that they drafted future captain Auston Matthews, that they will not be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Maple Leafs were deeply affected by various injuries to multiple top players, and there was a major recent change in the front office, as the club parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving.
And while attention is turning to additional moves that could be made by the club, longtime defenseman Morgan Rielly, who is the longest-tenured member of the club, is getting honest about his future with the team.
Toronto Maple Leafs Defenseman Morgan Rielly Speaks About His Future With The Club
During the Maple Leafs’ locker room clean-out day on Thursday, Rielly was asked about his future with the only NHL club he’s played for, and made it clear that while his preference is to stay, it’s part of being a professional athlete that he must be prepared to potentially play elsewhere.
“I’ve always wanted to stay, I still wanna stay,” Rielly said. “I love playing here, I love being a Leaf.”
“It’s a challenging thing to answer when those conversations haven’t happened yet, but, you know, after a year like this, after any year, but especially one like this, as an athlete, you have to be prepared for that,” he continued. “You know, it’s not the first time that it’s crossed my mind.”
The Maple Leafs fell out of the playoff race down the stretch following the Olympic break, and for the first time in a decade, they’re not playing beyond the 82nd game of the regular season.
“We had a good road trip going into the Olympic break and then we came back and we weren’t able to continue it,” he said. “I think that there were other points during the season where we just weren’t able to be consistent enough to keep things going in that direction…I think whenever you have a year like this, there’s a number of things that need to be improved. I think the consistency was one of those things.”
Rielly, who completed his 13th season with the Maple Leafs, scored 11 goals while adding 25 assists. He averaged 21:08 of ice time while also posting a minus-18 rating.
He also still has four years left on his contract, which carries a $7.5 million cap hit.
Morgan Rielly Is The Longest-Tenured Member Of The Maple Leafs
There is nobody on the current Maple Leafs roster who has spent more time with the club than Rielly, who was selected in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft, and has been a fixture on Toronto’s blue line ever since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Rielly has appeared in 981 games with the Maple Leafs during the regular season, tallying a total of 98 goals with 451 assists and a -41 rating with 279 penalty minutes.
In the 70 postseason games he’s played in, he’s tallied a total of 15 goals with 32 assists, a plus-12 rating, and 35 penalty minutes while averaging 24:04 of ice time.
To see Rielly wear the jersey of any other NHL team would be an odd sight, but there’s always that possibility.
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