Craig Berube shared his thoughts on Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly’s performance on Monday. Rielly is in the third year of his eight-year, $60,000,000 contract and has five goals and 18 assists in 52 games this season. However, he has experienced a decrease in his offensive contributions over the previous season.
Berube said Rielly moves the puck well and needs to be more aggressive offensively.
"Moving pucks for sure - he is a good pucker mover who sees the ice well - and activating as a defenseman," Berube said (via Maple Leafs Hot Stove). "In the offensive zone, again, it’s about activating when he can and being more aggressive on the offensive side of things."
Berube also noted that Rielly has battled defensively, but his point production has been lower than in past seasons. He said the team needs more offense from him.
"On the other side of things, he hasn’t produced enough points as he has in the past. We are going to need that from him," Berube added.
Rielly's finest offensive season came in 2018-19, when he scored 72 points, including 20 goals. Over the last four seasons, he has averaged more than 30 assists. Last season, he tallied 51 assists.
This season, he has contributed more to wins, with four goals, 17 assists and a +12 rating. In losses, his rating falls to -31.
Rielly was a first-round pick in 2012 and has played 843 career games, averaging over 22 minutes per game. He is Toronto’s top defenseman and is playing his 12th NHL season.
The Maple Leafs have a 31-19-2 record and sit second in the Atlantic Division. They need to improve their power play and penalty kill, ranking 13th on both.
Rielly contributes to Maple Leafs' early lead in win against Oilers
The Maple Leafs defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the first game of their four-game Western Canada road trip. With this win, they ended their three-game losing streak. Morgan Rielly had an assist on Bobby McMann’s goal.
William Nylander scored first at 6:32. Matthew Knies made it 2-0 on a power play at 9:08. McMann scored another power-play goal with a helper from Rielly at 12:50 to put the Leafs up 3-0. Mitch Marner increased the lead to 4-1 early in the third period.
The Oilers responded with goals from Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman and Corey Perry, but the Leafs held on. Joseph Woll made 45 saves for the win.