‘It’s a battle right now’: Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly on offensive woes

TORONTO — Morgan Rielly is used to contributing with the puck on his stick.

The Maple Leafs defenceman had a career-high 68 points a couple of years back and chipped in another 58 last season as part of a well-oiled attack.

The offence has largely dried up in 2024-25 for Rielly. His teammates have been bitten by the same bug over the last week.

The Minnesota Wild picked up a 3-1 victory Wednesday as Toronto dropped a third straight game in regulation where the group could only muster a solitary goal.

“We can do a better job of getting on the inside,” said Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who hit the post in the first period. “(It’s) just bearing down on it. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.

“Sometimes you get in these periods where you’re fighting it a little bit, the puck’s not bouncing your way.”

Things haven’t been bouncing Rielly’s way for much of 2024-25. The team’s highest-paid blueliner with a US$7.5-million annual salary cap hit has scored just once over his last 37 games.

“I feel good despite numbers,” said Rielly, who has five goals and 17 assists for 22 points in 51 contests. “It’s a battle right now. Just trying to compete and play the best I can.”

Toronto has struggled to find a consistent partner for the 30-year-old, but head coach Craig Berube has liked what he’s seen with Jake McCabe on Rielly’s flank.

“Can Morgan play better? Yes, he can,” Berube said. “We all know that, he knows that. He’s trying to work through it right now. It’s a team game. That’s not all on Morgan. Yes, he’s a guy that we need offence from.

“We’ll try to help him as much as we can.”

Rielly had more license to roam when former bench boss Sheldon Keefe was in charge, but he wasn’t making excuses for his play under the tighter, risk-averse system the Stanley Cup-winning Berube brought to Toronto when he was hired last spring.

“We all put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform,” said Rielly, who lost a battle behind his net that led to Minnesota’s first goal. “We’re all striving to be the best we can be. When it’s not going your way, you do everything you can to change that. It starts with hard work and being a good teammate.”

Leafs winger William Nylander, who scored the only goal against the Wild and also hit the crossbar on a breakaway, said Toronto’s tendency to use of five forwards on the power play has contributed to Rielly’s dip.

“As an offensive defenceman, those are some minutes that, for production purposes, you don’t get,” Nylander said. “He’s been playing great … puck’s not going in.”

Toronto (30-19-2) fell out of first place in the Atlantic Division on Wednesday after the Florida Panthers (30-19-3) picked up a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

“It’s a tough stretch right now with scoring — that’s the bottom line,” said Berube, whose group also lost 5-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets and 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators as part of its current slide. “Just gotta battle through it.”

The same goes for Rielly.

“Our team is extremely committed and guys are motivated and focused,” said the North Vancouver, B.C., product. “There’s no lack of effort, there’s no lack of preparation from anyone. I’m doing everything I can to contribute more offensively, be up in the play and drive that without taking risk on the defensive side.

“We’re all working together to try to play our best.”

WHEELS UP

The Leafs will travel to Edmonton on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s date with the Oilers to open a four-game road trip before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The swing out West, which also includes stops in Calgary, Seattle and Vancouver, marks the first time Toronto has been out of town for an extended period this season.

The Leafs could also get injured forwards John Tavares (lower-body injury) and Matthew Knies (upper-body injury) back at some point on the trip.

“I’m glad we’re going on the road,” Berube said. “It’ll be good for the team to be together and spend some time together.”

SWEDISH DELIGHT

Nylander rang that shot off iron on fellow Swede and 4 Nations teammate Filip Gustavsson before finally getting one past his countryman in the third.

“He’s just super calm back there,” Nylander said before adding with a grin: “Just a great Swedish goalie.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press