Morgan Rielly vs. the World
One of the top young defensemen in the NHL, Morgan Rielly has already had the honour of playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors and most recently at the 2016 World Championships, and he’ll almost certainly don the red and white again in the future. But in a few weeks, Vancouver-born Rielly will have to compete against his home country for the first time. In the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, he’s set to star with Team North America — a collection of top players under the age of 24 — which makes Team Canada his rival.
It’s an odd feeling, but Rielly is ready.
“It’ll be a bit strange, but we’ll get used to everything. I think it could be kind of special, too,” Rielly explained after an informal workout on Tuesday with a few Leafs teammates. “I’d like to beat Babs [Team Canada and Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock], so if I get a chance to play against him, that will be kind of fun.”
Team Canada and Team North America are in different pools for the cup’s group stage, so they won’t go head-to-head during the round robin portion of the schedule. But if both teams make it to the semi-finals or the best-of-three final, they could end up playing against each other under high stakes.
The World Cup of Hockey has been criticized as contrived, given that two of the eight competing teams are manufactured. (In addition to the under-24 Team North America, there’s a Team Europe featuring players from European countries other than Sweden, Finland, Russia, or the Czech Republic.) But criticism aside, Rielly feels players’ competitive instincts will take over once the tournament gets rolling.
“It’s a huge honour: You’re playing with the best players in your age group, and you’re playing against the best players in the world,” said Rielly, when asked how he feels about playing for Team North America. “We’re all looking forward to it.”
Team North America may be young, but their talent is undeniable: Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, 2015 Calder Trophy winner Aaron Ekblad, Flames standout Johnny Gaudreau, and Stanley Cup champions Brandon Saad and Matt Murray. They aren’t competing as a novelty; they’re playing to win, said Rielly. “We have a lot of good young players and once we put them together, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
After the World Cup concludes on October 1, Rielly will have no time to waste. At just 22 years old, he’ll start his fourth NHL season armed with a new six-year, $30 million contract. He’s already the sixth most tenured Maple Leaf, with 236 career games in the blue and white. No longer a newbie, Rielly said he intends to establish himself as one of the Leafs’ leaders in spite of his relative youth.
“I still feel like I have a lot to prove in terms of what I want to do on the ice,” he said. “But coming into this training camp being one of the older guys, I’m just looking forward to kind of having a chance to be more of a leader. I have pretty high expectations for myself and the team.”
Over the course of his first three seasons, Rielly has grown into the cornerstone-type defenseman that any successful team needs. Last season, Coach Mike Babcock expanded Rielly’s role, often playing him against other teams’ top lines. Rielly’s power play time was limited, but this year, expect to see his role include time on the man advantage, especially with Dion Phaneuf no longer in town.
But even though Rielly has developed as an individual athlete, team success has not followed. The Leafs, in the midst of a rebuild, missed the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Rielly is ready to turn that trend around.
“I think the players believe this team is a lot closer to being what we want to be than what people give us credit for,” Rielly said. “Moving forward, we just want to focus on the future. We’re not worried about anything that’s happened in the past.”
Team North America’s performance may very well provide a look into the Leafs’ future. In addition to Rielly, the team includes Auston Matthews, this year’s number one NHL Draft pick. The Leafs are hoping Matthews may (finally) fill the void left by Mats Sundin as the team’s number one centre, a role the team has been trying to fill for nearly a decade.
“I’ve had a chance to get to know him a little bit, and he’s a great young man,” said Rielly when asked about playing with Matthews at the World Cup. “Getting a chance to play with him here in Toronto—for a long time, hopefully—will be special, and getting a chance to play together at the World Cup will be that much more fun.”
