Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly is on pace for just 47 points this season. It may be a far-cry from his 72-point season in 2018-19, but it's still well above the average of what you'd expect from an offensive defenseman in the National Hockey League.
Many pundits have suspected that the Rielly we're seeing this season is not the same player he was last year, suggesting that he must, in fact, be playing with some sort of an injury.
On Wednesday, Rielly himself confirmed what many had already assumed.
During an interview with The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, Rielly admitted that he has been struggling with a lower-body injury for most of this season.
The injury is not believed to be serious enough to warrant keeping Rielly out of the lineup, however, even teammate Auston Matthews has acknowledged that Morgan has been dealing with more than just everyday discomfort.
“He's obviously a really big part of the team, he's a leader on the team,” Matthews said of Rielly, "and while players grind through injuries daily, I think his has been a little more serious than just the average injury or bumps or bruises.”
Though Reilly would not specify the location of the injury or what sort of treatment he would undergo to be able to suit up each night, he did comment on the amount of pain he was in from the beginning of the season right up to the Christmas break.
“It was a pretty significant amount of pain,” Rielly told The Athletic. “But I did my MRIs and everything like that and there was no damage to the real important things. So it was just a matter of pain management.”
So, how is Rielly feeling after the break? Well, by his own admission, he seems to be coming around.
“We took some action over the Christmas holidays and I'm feeling much better after some minor stuff that we did,” he said. “And I think it's just having confidence — and the pain is way lower than it was, and I'm able to just go out and play more.”
It was apparent, during the interview, that Rielly felt he was always well enough to suit up every night. In fact, in his own words, if he did not feel up to playing, or if he felt his presence on the ice was a liability to the team, he would have sat out in favor of a healthier body coming in and helping the team.
“I think that if you're still able to help the team then you should play,” Rielly explained of his thinking. “If you're only gonna hinder the team's chances to win, because you can't move, then that becomes selfish. So there's a line there.”
Rielly certainly raised the bar last season, when he recorded career bests in both single-season goals, assists and points, while suiting up in all 82 of the Maple Leafs' games. With his struggles this season, the 25-year-old seems to have a very realistic outlook on what is happening with his production.
“I think there were times last year where I'd shoot the puck and it would hit something and go in, and that's just the way it was going,” Rielly said of his best season-to-date, “And this year it's not necessarily going that way.”
Though it's been a long road and a slow recovery for "Riles", with little rest between games during a very demanding first half for the Buds, it's good to see the former first round pick starting to come around and regain some of the mobility that made him so dangerous last season.
There is still plenty of time to ramp up production and the second-half is just the right time to do it as teams begin to tighten up prepare for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Leafs play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night, having just lost to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on home ice. You can bet that Rielly and company will put together a more concerted effort as they don't plan to allow a second team in as many games come into the Scotiabank Arena and walk out with the two points.
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