Sheldon Keefe praises the defensive growth of the red hot Morgan Rielly
The cost of signing defensemen within their prime years shot up dramatically this year, with blueliners like Dougie Hamilton, Seth Jones, and Darnell Nurse redefining the market for players in their demographic. That's why, when Morgan Rielly inked an 8-year, $60M deal on October 29th, the contract was looked at as a resounding win for the Leafs.
Rielly, at a $7.5M AAV, certainly moves the needle - especially when you consider his production this season. In 30 games this season, Rielly has notched 4 goals and added 22 assists for a total of 26 points, good for 5th overall in scoring among defensemen this season and just 5 points back of the league leader, Adam Fox.
That's not the only reason why Rielly has turned heads since signing his contract. He's also made enormous strides in his defensive game, which has made him into one of the better two-way defensemen in the league and Leafs head coach Sheldon can't speak highly enough of the 27-year-old.
"Confident. Reliable on both sides of the puck. I think he's got more to offer us here offensively, and it's on us to as a team to get him engaged more, get more happening on the rush where he can get involved. But he's defended really well," Keefe told Sportsnet's Luke Fox on Thursday.
"The defensive ability that he's added here on both five-on-five and the penalty kill has really come a long way - and he's really embraced that. We're just seeing a more complete version of Morgan.
"He's an elite defenseman in the league, and I think elite defensemen in the league should be contributing to your team in all facets. That's a really important thing,"�Keefe concluded.
The Maple Leafs are back in action on Saturday evening against the Vancouver Canucks in the first half of a back-to-back on the road, with a meeting against the league's newest team, the Seattle Kraken, set to take place on Sunday.
Hopefully Rielly can maintain the torrid pace that he's currently on. If he does that, the Vancouver, BC native will have his second 70+ point campaign in 4 seasons.
