RIGHT ON?
Left side or right, Leafs know they’ve added a strong piece in Muzzin
DETROIT — Morgan Rielly was relaxing at his parents’ Vancouver-area home during the Maple Leafs’ bye week on Monday and scrolling through Twitter when the news caught his eye.
In a trade that rippled quickly through the world of the NHL, the Leafs had acquired defenceman Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings. Rielly immediately told his mom, Shirley, who was nearby.
“I think her reaction was better than mine,” Rielly said on Thursday afternoon after the Leafs reconvened at a suburban practice facility. “She was pretty excited. It’s a big move for our team and we’re very happy to add a player like that.
“She did her homework. Went right online and I think the first thing she said is, ‘Oh, he’s a lefty.’ ”
Yes, Muzzin is a left-handed shot. Leafs coach Mike Babcock happened to notice as well.
So is Rielly, and in their first practice together, Rielly was moved to the right side, with Muzzin sticking to his usual left side.
Whether that lasts remains to be seen, as Babcock isn’t married to it. The Leafs now have five left-handedshooting defencemen in their top six, as Ron Hainsey will line up with Travis Dermott, leaving Igor Ozhiganov on the outside. Only Nikita Zaitsev, still with Jake Gardiner, shoots right.
“It’s not perfect,” Babcock said when asked whether having five lefties in the top six complicates his job. “It’s what we got. It’s what was available and we’re going to make it work.”
There is the possibility that Rielly’s best season in the NHL, one that has put him in the Norris Trophy talk with 33 Leafs games remaining, is disrupted by moving to the right side.
“There was a guy, I think he won seven Norrises, his name was Nick (Lidstrom), and he always would say to me, ‘Why wouldn’t you put the guy who makes all the plays on his forehand?’ ” Babcock said, taking into account his time as coach of the Detroit Red Wings.
“Great question. We can wrestle with everything we want, but the No. 1 thing to do is to get your new people feeling good and then if you want to make any changes or do anything different, do it after they are getting feeling good and they are comfortable and they know what’s going on.”
In other words, Muzzin is bound to wind up on the right side at some point. Babcock noted he never did play Lidstrom on the right.
Muzzin’s take? He would prefer to stay on the left.
“I have played pretty much my whole career on the left and it’s comfy for me,” Muzzin said. “I have also played with a lefty (Alec Martinez) on the right for a long time, too. We will see what’s in store for us, but if that’s the way it goes, it will be a little more comfortable for me.”
The left/right talk aside, the Leafs have acquired a bona fide piece — and they know it.
As the bye week ends officially with a game at Little Caesars Arena against the Red Wings on Friday night, there was excitement not only in the Toronto room, but from Muzzin as well following his first meet-and-greet with the players. He arrived from California with John Tavares and Frederik Andersen, who spent the bye week on the West Coast, and was quite pumped to put on the Leafs’ colours (and No. 8) for the first time.
“Easy to play with,” Muzzin said of Rielly. “It was just practice, but we talked about some certain situations and stuff like that.
“This is new for me. I have never been traded, but to be traded to a team like this with some really good players, I am hoping it’s easy.
“When you put a bunch of good players together, usually we can pick it up pretty quick.”
Rielly doesn’t know Muzzin personally. That, for the good, is about to change.
“We had confidence in this group going into the break, and I think when you add a player like that, it adds to it even more,” Rielly said. “The message that has been sent (from general manager Kyle Dubas in trading for Muzzin) is pretty clear. It’s an opportunity for this team to prove we are up to the challenge and can get rolling.”