Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly feels that Olympic break came at an ideal time after injury, prior struggles
Rielly viewed the time off as a good reset on both a physical and mental level, and as renewed excitement to get back into the swing of things down the stretch. He and the Leafs know they have a difficult challenge ahead if they wish to make the playoffs for a 10th straight year, but he feels the team is ready to rise to the occasion and play their best hockey down the stretch.
That starts with the Leafs taking full advantage of the week of practice, which has been difficult to come by due to the condensed schedule.
“ It’s great. I think we’ll have lots of time to get back together here as a group and get some time on the ice, and work on some things,” Rielly said. “We have a challenge ahead of us that we need to get ready to meet. That’s gonna be our focus here for the next little bit.”
A lot has been said about Rielly’s play this season, as it has been far from his best offensively and the defensive struggles have been difficult to ignore. While his long-term future with the team beyond this season remains unclear, there is still time for him to rewrite the story on the 2025-26 campaign and play his best hockey at the most critical time of the year, which he has done before.
Berube seemed to notice that the veteran defenceman has had an extra kick in his step during these first set of practices since the Leafs regrouped.
“Before, he was actually out that had been lingering for a while. So this rest helps him amongst other guys for sure,” he said. “Watching him out here, looks like he’s in a lot better place than he was, mentally for sure.”