TORONTO (Jan. 30) — He would sleep on a bed of nails before quitting on the Maple Leafs.

But, still, it’s time.

Morgan Rielly has accomplished all he can in blue and white. Certainly, in Toronto blue and white. Were he and the hockey club on a similar, productive page, each would be working toward relocation before the Mar. 7 trade deadline in the National Hockey League. As with all top–end roster players on the Maple Leafs, it’s Rielly’s call to make. Former general manager Kyle Dubas accorded Rielly a full no–movement clause in the first six years of an eight–year, $60 million contract extension signed on Oct. 29, 2021 (and activated for the 2022–23 season).

Current GM Brad Treliving would need permission from Morgan to waive the clause.

To this point, there has been no reasonable account provided for the startling regression in Rielly’s performance this season. For the past decade, he has been the hockey club’s No. 1 defenseman… and, unlike his loftier teammates up front, has shown a flair for elevating performance in the Stanley Cup chase. That the Leafs have “caught” only one opponent in eight playoff years is more an indictment of those who surround Rielly. Conversely, it is indisputable that Morgan has resided a tier beneath the Norris Trophy contenders each year. Which has starved the Maple Leafs of an element fundamental to Stanley Cup success. Why, then — and I ask this all the time — would management want to remain stagnant? Were the Leafs on a Murder–1 charge, there’d be enough evidence to send the entire franchise to the electric chair. How many more years of playoff malaise is required before a high–ranking officer says “we’ve got to do something different around here!” I thought Keith Pelley might be that person, but nothing has remotely changed in hockey philosophy since he became CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Management remains wedded to the fantasy that the Core–4 (plus one) can get the job done after mid–April. Or, so it clearly seems. Perhaps awareness and urgency is not part of the thinking process in a hockey city with unlimited endurance. If so, the Leafs are doomed, Interminably. Or, until ownership intercedes.

Otherwise, and in lieu of ignorance, the No. 1 defenseman on the club needs a change of scenery. Quickly. And, sorely. We don’t know what’s happened to Rielly in 2024–25. But, it’s mind–numbingly clear that he’s a shell of his former (and long–time) self. Perhaps, and God forbid, there are personal issues impacting his performance. Or… maybe… and more–than likely… he’s grown irreparably stale in the unending circumstance of the Core–4 era.

You’ll never, of course, hear it in words. Not from Morgan or any of his diffident ‘mates. To them, “staying together” is the issue. At least, it has been up to now… and will be forever cemented if Mitch Marner signs with the club beyond this season. Rielly, for whatever reason, has started to languish in a Leafs uniform. After 51 games, he ranks an alarming 42nd in scoring among NHL defensemen, with a paltry 22 points. His minus–18 figure is second–worst amid those 42 players… ahead of only Roman Josi of the dreadful Nashville Predators. Coincidentally, a near–perfect hockey and financial trade would be for Rielly and Josi to switch uniforms (and situations) prior to Mar. 7. But, this is apathetic Toronto and Morgan has been the de facto captain of the Leafs for a decade; along with John Tavares, providing whatever conscience the team bears. In my years following the Leafs, only Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin could match Rielly and Tavares as top–level pros, on and off the ice.

It was, hence, sombering to witness the ease in which Rielly was eliminated from the play on Minnesota’s first goal, Wednesday night, at Scotiabank Arena; the Wild emerging with a 3–1 victory. As per the Sportsnet TV image, above, Morgan was simply pinned to the end boards by winger Jakub Lauko; relinquishing the puck for a centering feed that Marat Khusnutdinov snapped past Joseph Woll at 7:07 of the first period. It was only one play, in one game, but it perfectly encapsulated Morgan’s decline this season. The team, not coincidentally, is suffering as well. Since Jan. 4, the Leafs have been wildly erratic (albeit symmetrical), winning three… losing three… winning three… losing three. If you think Marner, Tavares, Auston Matthews and William Nylander aren’t sensing a familiar and odious pattern, think again. I’ll use the word once more: everything around the Leafs looks “stale”.

Neither is it likely an illusion.

THOSE FIRST GAMES FOR RADIO

In a previous blog, I recalled the long, exhausting days leading up to resolution of the NHL owners’ lockout, 30 years ago this month, and how I began to cover the Maple Leafs, full time, for The FAN–590. The opening games of the abbreviated, 48–game schedule were played in Los Angeles and San Jose on back–to–back nights (Jan. 20–21, 1995). These were the first two of 981 games in a Toronto jersey for Mats Sundin, acquired the previous June from the old Quebec Nordiques for Wendel Clark. Sundin is still the franchise scoring leader with 987 points… ahead of legends Darryl Sittler (916), Dave Keon (858), Borje Salming (768) and George Armstrong (713).

In many fewer games, Mitch Marner (now sixth, all time, with 707 points) and Auston Matthews (seventh, with 687) are rocketing toward the standard bearers. Barring a career–threatening injury, Matthews will supplant Sundin sometime near the end of his current contract, with expires after the 2027–28 schedule. Marner, of course, will have to re–sign with the Maple Leafs in order to continue up the board. He is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. 

 
The Leafs were still in the Western Conference (through the 1997–98 season) and played all 48 games within the Conference. So, starting in California made sense. It was the Wayne Gretzky era in Los Angeles and 16,005 fans were showing up for each game at the sold out Forum in Inglewood. As per the first period scoring summary, below, Sundin waited only one minute and 24 seconds to record his initial point as a Leaf (on a season–opening goal by defenseman Dimitri Mironov). Gretzky, naturally, showed up, tying the score for the Kings on a late powerplay. The Maple Leafs and Kings skated to a monotonous, 4–4 overtime draw (in the years prior to the shootout).

Damien Cox covered the opening trip for the Toronto Star.

His initial thoughts appear beneath the summary.

It was on to San Jose the following night for a 3–2 loss to the Sharks. As pictured, above, by Tony Bock of the Star, Sundin scored his first goal in a Leafs jersey, lifting the puck over a sprawled Arturs Irbe. A shorthanded goal by Jeff Friesen late in the second period proved the difference. The night was memorable for a strafing of rookie Leaf defenseman Kenny Jonsson, who went on to a respectable career in the NHL, mostly with the Islanders.

Damien told the story:

 
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