Morgan Rielly

Amateur

Rielly was selected second overall by the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft in 2009. Before entering the WHL, Rielly played midget hockey for the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. In his final season with the Hounds, Rielly was the top-scoring defenseman in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League, with 55 points in 43 games. His team captured Canada's national midget championship. Rielly joined the Warriors for the 2010–11 WHL season, playing in 65 games and recording 28 points. Heading into the 2011–12 WHL season, Rielly was a highly ranked prospect for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He suffered a serious knee injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, causing him to miss most of the season. He returned for the tail end of the Warriors playoff run against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Despite the injury, Rielly still finished the season ranked fifth among North American skaters by the Central Scouting Bureau. Rielly was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, fifth overall, and he signed a contract with the club shortly before the 2012–13 NHL lockout. He spent the 2012–13 season with the Warriors, with a stint in January at the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp, but eventually was returned to finish the season in the WHL.

Professional

Rielly made his professional debut at the end of the 2012–13 season with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. At the start of the 2013–14 NHL season, Rielly made the Maple Leafs roster out of training camp. He made his NHL debut on October 5, 2013 against the Ottawa Senators. On December 16, 2013, Rielly scored his first NHL goal against Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rielly recorded his first multigoal game with two goals against Cam Talbot of the New York Rangers on February 10, 2015.

Throughout the 2015–16 season, Rielly earned much praise from head coach Mike Babcock, as well as other figures of management. In addition, he would see an increase in ice time, often appearing on the top pairing for the club. He also sent career highs in multiple offensive categories such as goals, assists and points. Rielly was awarded a 6-year, $30 million contract on April 13, 2016, carrying an average value of $5 million a season.

International play

Rielly represents Canada internationally. He started out in regional and age-group competitions. When he was representing Team Pacific at the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, Rielly scored two goals in five games and helped his team capture a bronze medal. Later that year, Rielly was part of Team Canada's gold medal winning squad at the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Rielly's first experience at an International Ice Hockey Federation sanctioned event was the 2011 IIHF World U18 Championships, where he recorded 2 goals and an assist in 7 games. Canada finished fourth at this tournament. During the NHL lockout in 2013, Rielly was selected to represent Canada at the 2013 IIHF World U20 Championships, again finishing in fourth place. In 2016, Rielly was named to Team Canada for the 2016 IIHF World Championship where he was named one of Canada's most valuable players. Team Canada would go on to win the tournament with a 2–0 victory over Finland in the final. Throughout the tournament, Rielly recorded the most ice time of any player on Canada. For this accomplishment, he was named to the tournament All-Star team.

Personal life

Growing up, Rielly was a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his favourite player was Darryl Sittler. His parental family is from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and are fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His father, Andy, is the owner of Rielly Lumber and his mother, Shirley is a Cancer Researcher and owns a Medical Company. He has an older brother, Connor. The family own a lab named Maggie.