With defence hurting, Rielly takes on an even bigger role
Morgan Rielly is in a familiar spot as the Maple Leafs’ leader in average time on ice.
It’s likely, at least for the next two games, that those minutes are going to go up.
Rielly is expected to absorb even more ice time than his team-leading 24:07, now that the Leafs have lost their second defensive pairing to injury and COVID protocols.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe announced Tuesday that defenceman Jake Muzzin was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a hit from Blues’ forward Klim Kostin during the Leafs’ 6-5 win in St. Louis Saturday.
“After practice (Monday), Jake reported he wasn’t feeling quite right,” Keefe said. “He took that hit in the St. Louis game, and (medical staff ) continued to monitor it. Jake felt good for practice (Monday), but the intensity of the practice … he wasn’t liking how he was feeling.”
Keefe said Muzzin won’t be travelling with the team to games against the Rangers (Wednesday) and the Islanders (Saturday).
With Justin Holl placed in protocols on Friday, the Leafs are now without their second pairing. While all eyes will be on Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, as the two young defenceman are called upon to fill in on defence, the bulk of the ice time and shutdown assignments will fall on Rielly and defensive partner T.J. Brodie.
Along with that, Rielly — now in his ninth season with the Leafs — will be up against the newest member of the league’s group of elite, offensive defencemen — the Rangers’ Adam Fox.
“There’s guys all over the league, in year one, two, or three, and they’re dominant players, and that’s not easy to do at that position,” Rielly said in reference to Fox. “That’s what people want, if you can contribute offensively, and play great defensively, and skate, that’s a great sign.”
Indeed, Fox — now in his third season and a terrific asset for the Rangers after entering the league as Calgary’s third-round choice in the 2016 draft — is one of the best storylines the NHL has in terms of young defencemen.
After being named the best defenceman in the 2016 U-18 world championships, Fox opted to stay in college rather than play for Calgary, and went on to lead NCAA defencemen in assists and points in his freshman season. Calgary traded his rights to Carolina in 2018, with the Hurricanes sending them to the Rangers in 2019, where Fox opted out of his senior year in college to enter the NHL.
Fox finished second in goals by NHL rookie defencemen, then skyrocketed to superstardom last season, winning the Norris Trophy, and joining Bobby Orr as the only two players in league history to win the award before their third year.
The Rielly-Fox factor in Wednesday’s game could be significant, with both pacing NHL defences in several categories.
Rielly, in addition to leading the Leafs in average ice time, is five seconds shy of his career-high, which is a sign of the trust he’s built with Keefe and the Leafs’ coaching staff. Fox is on another offensive tear, leading all NHL defenceman with 34 assists, including 17 on the power play.
“You see these guys — Fox, (Cale) Makar, (Miro) Heiskanen, they come in as young defenceman and the confidence they have is incredible,” Leafs forward Jason Spezza said. “Fox, I mean, the way he moves across the line, just the subtle little plays, he makes great passes … I think he knows when to handle (the puck) for a long time, and when to get rid of it quick. They have great chemistry with the Rangers, especially him with Mika Zibanejed and Artemi Panarin, they really snap it around, those three on the power play.
“Fox has a lot of misdirection,” Spezza added. “I think that’s one of his strengths, he has a lot of little subtle fakes and jukes. He looks one way and passes the other, almost the style of a point guard. You think of Steve Nash, a lot of misdirection, that’s how I see Fox, a guy who is like a point guard back there, he can make you miss with his eyes.”
Rielly’s 31 points in 36 games this season marks his best offensive output since his career-high season in 2018-19, when he potted 20 goals and added 52 assists. Rielly earned all-star and Norris Trophy nods that season, but has never won the Norris, or been named an NHL allstar despite a career where he’s consistently played at high levels.
“Nah, I don’t have any thoughts on it,” said Rielly. “We play on good teams with high-end talent, and those guys have to go and it’s hard to be there. You look at (Mitch Marner and William Nylander, who were also not named to the all-star teams), and there’s plenty of guys on our team that are that quality of player.”
Similarly, Rielly credits his teammates for the fact that he and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang lead NHL defenceman in points per game since the start of December (Rielly is first, with 1.307).
For Keefe, though, Rielly’s trust factor is reflected in the Leafs’ record (fifth in the league in points percentage), and the team’s second-ranked power play.
“You need to have guys that you can (trust) every night,” Keefe said. “There are times, injuries, whatever it is, you need to lean on people. When the game is on the line and you need to lean on people, and Morgan is one of those guys, so his minutes are going to climb in some of those instances.”