Rielly dealt with an upper-body injury before the break, and says he's feeling ready to play again following the rest.
Morgan Rielly is feeling refreshed after the Olympic break.
The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman missed the final two games ahead of the break due to an upper-body injury. Rielly played just over 12 minutes in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, and left the game late in the second period.
That ultimately forced him out of the lineup against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
"I was kind of just dealing with something, and it kind of just got to a point where I just needed some time," the 31-year-old said on Wednesday after Toronto's second practice. "So obviously the break was good, and I think I was able to just come back ready to play."
Rielly had played in all but one game for the Maple Leafs before being shut down until after the Olympic break.
"Yeah, for sure the rest helps," said head coach Craig Berube. "Like before he was actually out (with the injury), that has been lingering for a while. So, this rest helps him amongst other guys for sure.
"Watching him out here, he looks like he's in a lot better place than he was."
Toronto had lost six straight but won its final three games before the layoff, moving them six points out of the final wild-card spot, held by the Boston Bruins. As low as the team might have felt during the losing streak, it was still a good test of adversity.
"I think that's the way you've got to look at it," said Rielly.
"We are prepared to hit the ground running here. We understand where you're at. We understand what we need to do. I think it's a great opportunity for our group to rise to the challenge and start playing our best hockey."
Rielly is second among defensemen in points with seven goals and 24 assists, behind only Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who's currently representing Team Sweden at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
The Canadian defender has averaged 21:34 of ice time through 54 games, second to Jake McCabe, whose 22:19 is the highest on the Maple Leafs.
When the Maple Leafs returned to practice on Tuesday afternoon, Rielly was paired alongside his usual defense partner, Brandon Carlo. And despite the team just coming off a break, Berube still expects a lot out of his players.
Fifteen minutes into their first practice on Tuesday, Berube, unhappy with how things were going, told his players to "stop f**king around."
One day later, Rielly explained how important the practices were right out of the break to get their season back on track.
"I think, you know, obviously, a good week of practice here, just keeping our focus narrow and just understanding what we have coming up.
"And so, we're all extremely focused here. This is an important couple of days to get our feet going again, get our minds going again, and make sure that we get to go and running when the season starts."