#morgan-rielly

#morgan-rielly

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a really successful season, finishing just two points out of out of second overall, winning a playoff series for the first time in nearly 20 years, and heavily outplaying the team that eventually beat them with a hot goalie.Despite having a solid season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a ton of UFAs and will be coming back with a different team next year.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's second-round playoff exit at the hands of the Florida Panthers.On the difference in the series:
For me, we lose the series in the first three games.In Game 4, I thought we played very well.I thought we played well enough to win the game today, but in the first three games, we were in simpler positions than we were in Games 4 and 5, but we didn't handle those situations well and didn't capitalize on our chances.

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Rasmus Sandin on February 28th to the Washington Capitals for Erik Gustafsson and a 2023 first-round pick.Sandin, along with Timothy Liljegren, was thought to be part of the Toronto Maple Leafs' future.Both players were re-signed to identical two-year deals worth $1.4 million a season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (28-11-7) will face off against historic rivals the Montreal Canadiens (19-24-3) tonight at the Bell Canada Centre, in Montreal.The last time these two teams met was the season opener on October 12th, a game in which the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-3.Since then, both teams have had distinctly different seasons.

The injury bug has hit the Maple Leafs hard early this season, but they've been lucky that their centremen have stayed healthy.Auston Matthews and John Tavares are two players who I'd consider to be number one centre's on any NHL team.Though after that, the skill down the middle for Toronto drops off a cliff.

Given the Toronto Maple Leafs have used two full defensive lineups this season after just 27 games, injuries on the blueline have been a central talking point from the get-go.Morgan Rielly is out long-term.Who knows if Jake Muzzin will return?Jordie Benn is out for the second time this season, and Victor Mete was injured earlier this week, too.

One of the biggest stars of the series for the Maple Leafs, Morgan Rielly addressed the media after his team's first-round series victory over Tampa Bay.As the longest-serving Leaf, can you describe the emotions you're feeling?Where does relief rank in those emotions?Rielly: It is up there for sure.

Kyle Dubas continued to wheel and deal on Tuesday afternoon, recouping a (very late) first-round pick in 2023 (via Boston) and adding veteran defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Washington in exchange for Rasmus Sandin.A 30-year-old left-hander, Gustafsson is a highly mobile, puck-moving defenseman with a heavy shot who is currently top 20 in the NHL in points among defensemen with 38 in 61 games and is 12th among NHL defensemen in five-on-five points with 23 in 61 games.

Luke Schenn returns to Vancouver just a few days after he was traded to Toronto as the Maple Leafs look for their fifth win in their last six games tonight at Rogers Arena (7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).All the lineup information is coming in last minute tonight due to the 4 p.m. start on the west coast, but it appears the Leafs will run with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second consecutive game and Matt Murray will make his return to the net for his first start since January 17th.

After practice on Wednesday, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed Morgan Rielly's imminent return to the lineup, Dryden Hunt entering the lineup for his first game as a Leaf, and the fine he was issued for his criticism of the officials during Tuesday's win over St. Louis.Practice Lines - December 28

#Leafs lines at practice Dec. 28/22
Bunting-Matthews-NylanderJarnkrok-Tavares-MarnerKerfoot-Kampf-EngvallAstonReese-Holmberg-Hunt Extra: Anderson, Simmonds
Giordano-HollRielly-LiljegrenBrodie-TimminsSandin-Benn
MurraySamsonov@BodogCA @RinkWideTOR
- David Alter (@dalter) December 28, 2022

What kind of boost does it give to the group to have Morgan Rielly on the ice and nearing a return?

Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Thursday to force Game 6 in their first-round playoff series.Anthony Cirelli, with a goal and an assist, Nick Paul and Alex Killorn, into an empty net, also scored for Tampa.Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators07:00 PM at Canadian Tire CentreWatch on: CBC, SNO, SNW, SNP
The Leafs last game was at home on March 17 against the Carolina Hurricanes, which Toronto won by a score of 5-2.The Leafs have a record of 41-18-9 so far.The Ottawa Senators last played at home on March 16 against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to renew Kyle Dubas as General Manager, but he deserves it solely on the back of a genius move he made earlier this season.That move saw 22 year-old forward Curtis Douglas dealt to the Arizona Coyotes with 24 year-old defenseman Conor Timmins sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return.

The Maple Leafs kicked-off their Central Division road trip last night with a win against the St. Louis Blues.Here's our play-by-play recap of the game:
Let's watch Nylander stripping the puck off Tarasenko and then scoring the OT winner on Binnington one more time.The next stop on the Leafs road trip is in Phoenix where the Leafs will play for the first time in Mullet Arena, the controversial temporary home for the Arizona Coyotes located at Arizona State University which has seating for only 5,000.

It's official: Arizona has Toronto's number.Nick Bjugstad notched a goal and an assist as the Coyotes smothered the Leafs 6-3 to sweep the two game season series and snap Toronto's three game win streak.Furthermore, Arizona has now taken four in a row against Sheldon Keefe's squad and six of eight overall.

The Toronto Maple Leafs decided to scratch Morgan Rielly on Thursday night, sending a message to the 10-year veteran.There's no doubt that Morgan Rielly is struggling this season but making him a healthy scratch is a not a way to get back his confidence and the Toronto Maple Leafs should be embarrassed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a very successful NHL Trade Deadline but they should regret trading Rasmus Sandin.Who knows what went behind the scenes, but there were no reports that Rasmus Sandin was unhappy during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.Drafted 29th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the 23 year old was given a great opportunity to play and when he's been healthy, he's been good.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fans have a pathetic tradition where they employ group-think and a mob-mentality to gang up on a player and try to run him out of town.This wouldn't be so bad, but the Toronto Maple Leafs fans guilty of doing this never seem to pick the right player.Jake Gardiner and Pierre Engvall were players who took criticism out of sheer ignorance.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won three of their last four games, along with eight of their last eleven.Of course, the Boston Bruins are 8-2 and appear to not understand the meaning of the word "regression" (just kidding, 65 games is still within the realm of luck over skill, and it will happen eventually) meaning the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't gained any ground in the standings.

Jakob Chychrun was a healthy-scratch on Saturday night, which made everyone speculate that he could be traded this week, potentially to the Toronto Maple Leafs.The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Jakob Chychrun all year and it's easy to see why.The 24-year-old fits the Leafs style of play, but even more enticing is his small contract that has term.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS VS MONTREAL CANADIENS7:00PM - SCOTIABANK ARENACBC, TVA SPORTS, SPORTSNET, CITY-TVOTHER GUYS: EYES ON THE PRIZE
Did you know that the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Ryan O'Reilly (and a couple other guys) last night?It's true!I really hope this isn't the first you're hearing about it.

Period One
McCabe flunking the eye-test again.The captain ties it up.Morgan Rielly with his 400th point.Period Two
Noel Acciari with his first Leafs goal:
Score is 3-2 after two.As you can see, Chicago came out very hard, and the Leafs did not respond until into the second period.But does that mean they're "playing down" and getting totally outplayed?

Minnesota Wild @ Toronto Maple Leafs07:00 PM at Scotiabank ArenaWatch on: TSN4, BSNX, BSWIX
The Leafs last game was an away game on February 21 against the Buffalo Sabres, which Toronto won by a score of 6-3.The Leafs have a record of 35-15-8 so far.The Minnesota Wild last played an away game on February 23 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Good morning, everyone.Please stand, and open your hymnal to #67 - The Leafs Need a Defenceman.The Leafs defence is weak You know what it is we seek Ever searching Never finding He who prevents all goals Anyone who has ever written anything about the Leafs in any decade since the age of Tim Horton has sung this hymn.

I watch a lot of Maple Leafs games.I wince when things go bad, when a defenceman fails due to his own weakness or a momentary error.No one points a camera at me when that happens, though.For Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe they get to react for the world to see.I'm not saying I feel sorry for them, that's part of their job, but they aren't robots, so the emotions of those moments - and the more sober consideration of them - is going to have an effect.

New-look Leaf lines and D with Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty at practice today:Bunting - Matthews - MarnerTavares - O'Reilly - NylanderEngvall - Kampf - JarnkrokKerfoot - Acciari - LaffertyAston-ReeseRielly - HollMcCabe - BrodieGiordano - LiljegrenSandin - Timmins- Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel)
February 28, 2023
Sam Lafferty, a right-shot, comes in on the right wing, moving Alex Kerfoot, a very versatile player and a left shot, to the left wing.

Patrick Kane had his ninth career regular-season hat trick, rookie Cole Guttman scored the game-winner and Chicago beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 Sunday night.Max Domi had a goal and three assists for Chicago, who won their second straight following a three-game losing streak and climbed out of last place in the NHL.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was annoyed with his power play.Minus injured star Auston Matthews, the NHL's seventh-ranked unit had flubbed its way through three earlier opportunities and a big chunk of a four-minute man advantage in the dying moments of a tie game.One dynamite sequence flipped the script.

Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!Or is it?It's game day in New Jersey as the Leafs are set to take on the Devils tonight at 7PM on TSN4, and they'll be doing so without either Ryan O'Rielly or John Tavares.O'Rielly is out with a broken finger suffered in the game against the Canucks on Saturday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without several of their best players tonight when they take on the New Jersey Devils.The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly tonight in New Jersey.They will actually be dressing what appears to be their worst lineup since the Auston Matthews Era began, partly due to injury and partly do the fact that Sheldon Keefe seems to have come down with something that makes him horrible at lineups.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins07:00 PM at TD GardenWatch on: NHLN, CBC, SNO, SNW, NESN
Opponent's Site: Stanley Cup of Chowder Rookies Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann are both out with an illness tonight as the Leafs face the Bruins.Matt Murray will get the start against Linus Ullmark tonight as Conor Timmins subs in next to Morgan Rielly with Jordie Benn coming out.

The Toronto Maple Leafs took on both the Boston Bruins in a busy evening for the NHL that saw fourteen games played total, including this one involving the top two teams in the league.It was a close game and hard fought battle, but ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Bruins as they couldn't get a break for trying.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be loading up at the trade deadline this spring.Six weeks from now, the Toronto Maple Leafs will either have already made a huge trade or they will be in the process of making one.Either way, it is nearly a one-hundred percent guarantee that they will be adding to their already great roster.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Elliotte Friedman, are trying to trade for Vladislav Gavrikov.The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman is 27, and is a hybrid top pairing player in the style of Jake Muzzin, who is unlikely to ever play for the Toronto Maple Leaf s again.This is interesting news because we can extrapolate a lot of information about the Leafs intentions here.

Happy Monday, what's good?So much to talk about from the weekend.Coming off a 4-3 loss in Boston on Saturday, there was plenty to catch up on for the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take.Despite the loss, I thought the Leafs played relatively well; I loved the playoff feel to the game.At the end of the day, ultimately, some lethal turnovers did them in.

It took three months, but finally the Leafs (26-11-7) and Panthers (21-20-4) will kick off their four game season series tonight at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.Suddenly, the Leafs, who are coming off a 4-3 regulation loss in Boston on Saturday night, have a lot to play for in terms of positioning in the standings.

Good morning and welcome to the Tuesday edition of From The Branches.I will be your guide today; please follow me.After a couple of wins and an off-day the Leafs should be back in action to prepare for the next game against Nashville.That one runs Wednesday at 7:30 PM, and is the first of another back-to-back for the Leafs.

The Leafs playing one of their worst games of the year was certainly softened by Team Canada picking up gold in the World Juniors tournament.If you hadn't switched over to primarily watching the gold medal game by the time the third period rolled around in the Leafs game, I don't know what to tell you.

After a four-day holiday break, the Leafs are in St. Louis tonight to tangle with the Blues for the first of three on the road to finish off 2022.Food coma et all, it was nice to get back in the saddle for the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take.While us normal folk can chill out on the couch and recover from all the festivities the past few days, the NHL is back in full bore tonight with 11 games.

David Alter has good news from the Maple Leafs morning skate.Morgan Rielly is on the road trip, and was skating today with Mac Hollowell (called up on emergency basis) and Rasmus Sandin (on IR, the cause of the emergency).Later Sheldon Keefe told reporters that Both his injured defenders are day-to-day.

It's another busy Thursday in the NHL with 11 games on tap as the Christmas break is now in the rear-view mirror, but there are just three games in which one team is playing the second of back-to-back contests.Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.GOALIE
Kaapo Kahkonen, SJ vs. PHI ($21): While it has been a month since Kahkonen has hit the win column, he has a very good home matchup against the Flyers, who are averaging only 2.50 goals per game this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Colorado Avalanche7:00 PM at Ball Arena, Denver, ColoradoWatch on: Sportsnet, Altitude Sports
The Leafs last game was an away game on December 29 against the Arizona Coyotes, which Toronto lost by a score of 6-3.The Leafs have a record of 22-8-6 so far.The Colorado Avalanche last played at home on December 29 against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Toronto Maple Leafs recently traded AHL forward Curtis Douglas to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Conor Timmins.Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas made the trade for Timmins out of necessity.At the time of the trade, Toronto was without defensemen Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, and Jake Muzzin.

There's a lot we don't yet know about Timothy Liljegren's upper-body injury, which kept him off the ice for much of the back half of Thursday's 3-1 Toronto Maple Leafs loss at the hands of the New York Rangers.We do know Liljegren left Madison Square Garden with his right hand wrapped up in bandages, which doesn't seem to be a great sign for the 23-year-old defenceman.

After going 12-2-1 without him, Morgan Rielly will make his return to the Leafs lineup tonight as they visit the Arizona State University Coyotes.Can't forget about Conor Timmins' return either, I can't wait for his video tribute.Seriously, dollar beer night has to be a thing at Mullett Arena, right?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have the problem of having too many good players.It's a good problem to have.The Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Conor Timmins at the end of November during a particularly harsh stretch of injuries to their defenseman.In exchange for Timmins the Leafs sent Curtis Douglas to the Coyotes, and it took all of about ten seconds of seeing Timmins play to know they won that deal.

Last night, a crisis began to unfold in Canada after a loss to Czechia in day one of the World Juniors.It was a 5-2 loss, caused by poor goaltending and defensive coverage, among other things.This came after Finland was upset in overtime by Switzerland, and Team USA had an early scare against Latvia after being tied 2-2 and only pulling ahead late for a 5-2 win.

Today is Christmas and what better way to spend it than reading what the Maple Leafs might want under their tree this holiday season?Toronto has had an incredible season so far.A 21-7-6 record, second place in the Atlantic Division, three players in the top-15 of scoring, and two goaltenders who have some of the best statistics in the NHL.

The Leafs have used a lot of defencemen recently, have you noticed that?But despite being without some of their best defenders for long stretches, the Leafs are on a bit of a tear and have emerged as one of the top team's in the league during their last 15-20 games.Morgan Rielly has resumed skating on his own and as per TSN's Darren Dreger on the broadcast during the team's game against Tampa on Tuesday night, he's estimated to be about two weeks away from returning.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense is starting to resemble Mr. Burns Softball Team.So far this season, every single one of the Toronto Maple Leaf s best defenseman have been injured.Jake Muzzin hurt his neck, he may have to retire.Morgan Rielly hurt his knee, he's been out for over ten games now and is still going to miss a few more weeks.

The New York Islanders had a moderately good trip out west.I hesitate to call three losses "successful," but they did squeeze a loser point out of two of those losses and came home sitting at .500 on the trip, which is what I asked of them.Sure, the trip isn't over, but they're home now.And now, .500

The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Philadelphia Flyers at home this afternoon.I would much have preferred the Toronto Maple Leafs to play this evening when I am home for work, but for reasons I am yet to have explained to me, I am not consulted about scheduling.The bad news about this game is that the Leafs have placed Rasmus Sandin on the IR with a neck injury he suffered from.

The Toronto Maple Leafs once burnt a top five pick on a defensive defenseman named Luke Schenn.Toronto Maple Leafs GM at the time, Brian Burke, set the team back by years during his rein because he continued down a path that the successful teams of the future did a 180 on basically everything he believed.

Well, the point streaks had to end eventually, right?Former Leaf Jimmy Vesey scored twice as the Rangers upended the Leafs 3-1 to snap Toronto's 15-game point streak.On top of that, Mitch Marner failed to register a point as well, which marked the end of his impeccable 23 game run.Speaking of which, we have another point streak to watch closely now as Michael Bunting scored to extend his to 10 games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had some injury woes on their blue-line this season.Four of the Toronto Maple Leafs top five defensemen have missed significant time this year (Rielly, Muzzin, Brodie and Liljegren) while a fifth - Rasmus Sandin - missed most of training camp over a contract dispute.That hasn't seemed to matter, as the Leafs have pretty much played well regardless of who is in the lineup on any given night.

It's that time of the year again.The Holiday Roster Freeze is almost here.I love the Holiday Roster Freeze because the CBA capitalizes it, which makes it seem like a serious thing, but it doesn't really freeze anything, only covers half the holiday season and is more properly called a trade freeze, since no one's roster is really frozen.

Last night TJ Brodie made his return to the Leafs lineup after missing 12 games.The Buds were already without Jake Muzzin, meaning they were down their top two defensive defencemen.To make matters worse, Morgan Rielly was injured 5 games into that stretch, and the health of both Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray has been spotty.

Could the Toronto Maple Leafs become trade partners with the Vancouver Canucks?They most certainly could.Vancouver has a fire sale going on right now, and Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas would not be doing his job if he wasn't inquiring about Vancouver's available players.Vancouver's season has not been going well.

How dare Matt Murray steal the spotlight from a game that was billed as point streak versus point streak.Sorry, Jason Robertson, better luck next time.The 28-year-old Murray notched a 44 save shutout to lead the Leafs to a 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars.On Wednesday's edition of Leafs Morning Take, Rosie and I discussed Toronto's top-notch goaltending to start the season and what that means for the team moving forward.

On Tuesday night the Leafs saw Victor Mete become the next in the series of Leafs defensemen to leave the game due to an injury and not return.With the Leafs presently without Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie, Jake Muzzin, Jordie Benn and having additional depth injuries to Carl Dahlstrom and Filip Kral, the Leafs defensive depth chart is somewhat beyond ridiculous at the moment.

Everything is bigger in Texas and I guess that includes the news that comes out of Leafs practice.There are definitely a couple of important things to note from the skate today, so we'll dive right into those.TJ Brodie is on the ice for practice.Looks like he'll take part in his first practice with the team.