Leafs' Morgan Rielly reveals funny reason why he became a defenceman

Like just about any player in the NHL, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly owes much of his success to his parents.

But it was his dad who influenced perhaps the most important choice of his career: what position he’d play.

In a new video posted in the team’s long-running Blueprint series on their official YouTube channel, Rielly revealed that his father, Andy, was the reason he ended up playing defence.

“When I was younger, I played forward, and then my dad moved me to defence because there was fewer defenceman and therefore you got more ice time. So I was kind of down with that.”

The move has obviously worked out well for Rielly, who has now played 11 seasons for the Maple Leafs. He has 75 goals and 349 assists in 732 games and is signed through the 2029-30 season on a $60 million contract. And since joining the NHL, Rielly’s 16176 minutes of ice time are tops among Leafs players and 17th overall league-wide.

The full episode documents Rielly’s rise to the NHL, including a feature on his draft day with Toronto back in 2012, where they selected him fifth overall out of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors organization.

“I think when you’re really young, you dream about [making the NHL], but you don’t, like, make a decision. And ever since I was a kid, I loved [playing hockey]. I was always kind of realistic. I knew that it would be challenging,” Rielly added. “Then, in grade nine, I moved away from home and went to Notre Dame, which is kind of a hockey school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. That move was kind of my first step between doing, you know, anything out of the ordinary to try to pursue [an NHL career].”

The full video is available below:

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