Rielly becomes third Leafs defenceman placed on injured reserve

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly will be out for the foreseeable future.

Suffering a knee injury in last night’s 3-2 loss against the New York Islanders, Rielly was today placed on long-term injured reserve.

“He is going to have to get some pictures tomorrow and get a better idea of what is happening there,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after last night’s game.

While the Leafs didn’t offer an official diagnosis, it doesn’t appear that the testing went all too well based on the result.

Rielly, the team’s ice time leader in this season amongst skaters, joins TJ Brodie and Jake Muzzin as the team’s other two key defencemen currently on the injured reserve.

Muzzin is currently out until at least February with a cervical spine injury, while Brodie is out indefinitely with an oblique injury.

Mac Hollowell and Victor Mete were called up from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies in response to Rielly’s injury.

Still searching for his first goal, Rielly has 16 assists in 20 games this season while playing an average of 23 minutes a night.

Rielly signed an eight-year, $60 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs last October, which expires after the 2029-30 season. The contract has a cap hit of $7.5 million per season.

In the AHL, Hollowell has nine assists in 11 games with the Marlies this season, while Mete has been held pointless through six games.

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