Morgan Rielly’s drop-off has been easy to chalk up to age, but Bruce Boudreau sees a different culprit: Craig Berube’s decision to move him off the power play’s top spot.
On a July 15 appearance on TSN’s Overdrive, the former NHL coach argued that the shift away from Rielly as the main man on the man advantage may have knocked the defenseman off balance.
“I think it all started, quite frankly, when Morgan Rielly was their mainstay on the power play, and two years ago, they started putting Marner at the point, and I think it took him (Rielly) back a bit. And this was his spot, this was his job. So, I think it affected him mentally as well as anything else.”
Rielly was productive in 2023-24, his final season under Sheldon Keefe, finishing with seven goals and 58 points. But once Berube arrived for 2024-25, his output slid to 41 points, then fell again to 36 the following season.
Boudreau thinks a reset could help.
“So, I think a new start, with a new coach, if there’s good communication between them… I think he can turn it around very quickly.”
That new coach is Jim Hiller, and the hope is that his arrival gives Rielly a clean slate. But a fresh voice won’t automatically hand Rielly back his old power-play role.
Darren Raddysh is in the mix, and the Leafs have reasons to like what he brings. John Chayka pushed hard to get him because of his booming shot, something Toronto hasn’t really had in a long time.
Rielly has always been more of a puck mover than a point-shooting threat on the power play. Raddysh changes that dynamic. His Tampa Bay Lightning clips show exactly why teams covet him: Nikita Kucherov feeds him the puck, and Raddysh just lets it rip from the point.
If Toronto can tap into that kind of look, the payoff could be more scoring chances than the club has had in the past.
That could push Rielly to the second power-play unit, where he’d still get some time with the man advantage, just in a reduced role. Another option would be a two-defensemen setup, with Rielly still running the show in a sense while Raddysh handles the point and the heavy shot.
That would leave the Leafs with only three forwards, giving the unit a more old-school feel. Of course, none of this is settled yet. Hiller could also decide to use two different power-play looks to keep opponents guessing.
For now, it’s all projection. The Leafs won’t take the ice with their new power play for a few more weeks, but Boudreau’s point is clear: a new coach may be exactly what Rielly needs.
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