Morgan Rielly wants everyone to know exactly where he stands with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He spent the summer fielding trade speculation, even offering the Maple Leafs a short list of Western Conference teams he'd accept a deal to.
Nothing came of it. Monday, Rielly made his position clear after practice. He's not going anywhere if he can help it.
"I feel very fortunate to be a Maple Leaf and I want to continue that for as long as I can," Rielly said.
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That commitment comes after a rough stretch. Rielly finished last season with 36 points in 78 games as the Maple Leafs sputtered down the stretch and missed the playoffs.
The organization around him barely resembles the one he knew. Former general manager Brad Treliving was fired before the season ended, and Berube didn't last much longer either.
John Chayka took over as GM, and Rielly admits the uncertainty weighed on the room. "I'm extremely happy and grateful to be here now," he said. "This is my home."
Jim Hiller's new system aims to unlock Rielly's game
Under Berube, the Maple Leafs leaned hard on a dump-and-chase approach that kept them pinned in their own zone way too often.
That's a brutal fit for a defenseman like Rielly, who does his best work carrying pucks through the neutral zone, not chasing them into the corners.
New head coach Jim Hiller isn't a stranger, either. He was an assistant in Toronto during the Mike Babcock years, and Rielly already knows how he operates.
"I actually had Jim Hiller here before, and I think he's got a great relationship with guys he worked with before," Rielly said. "It's very, very different, but I'm happy to survive that process."
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The Maple Leafs are 0-0-0 to open the slate and dropped their last outing in overtime, 3-4 against Montreal, sliding to a two-game skid.
One more tuneup remains. The Maple Leafs face Ottawa in a split-squad game Wednesday before the real thing starts September 29 against Montreal at home.
Rielly's said all the right things. Now it's on Hiller's system to actually get him moving again. Because if it doesn't, this conversation resurfaces next summer.
Should the Maple Leafs have moved Morgan Rielly this summer instead of keeping him?
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