Morgan Rielly and Darren Raddysh were paired together at Monday's practice for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head coach Jim Hiller explains his reasoning behind that decision.
Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen Morgan Rielly and Darren Raddysh were partners on the top pairing at Monday's session at training camp.
This was the first session in which Rielly was utilized, per head coach Jim Hiller's preference, as the 32-year-old D-man was recovering from a viral condition. But now, he feels he is good to go and ready to feature in Toronto's next and final pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
"Morgan, we talked about it a little bit after a little slow start, but we envision him playing with Raddy," Hiller said after Monday's practice. "It's good to get him out there with a full-paced, you know, physical practice, actually. It was quite physical for us today. He came through that fine, so we think they can be a good pair."
Hiller believes that a duo of Rielly and Raddysh could be positive for the Maple Leafs on the back end, particularly with their ability to perform offensively.
"We'll try to maybe spot them a little more in the O-zone if we can, and give them some maybe more minutes with some of our top six forwards," Hiller said. "Not that they can't defend the other team's top lines, but we think maybe we can get one with our top six and maybe give us some advantage."
Toronto's bench boss admits that lineup changes happen at some point throughout any season, and that could very well be the case here. But regardless, he'd like to see what Rielly and Raddysh can achieve together.
"I don't want to say this is what we're doing because things always change, and we're still evaluating," he said. "But if (Rielly's) with Raddysh, that's two kind of offensive defensemen. Most skates, Raddysh really shoots. They've both been shutdown pair of defensemen before at different times. So we like that mix, but we like maybe that they're going to maybe just be a little bit more offensive."
It's clear that Hiller loves what that pairing can bring in the offensive zone. And production from the back end for the Leafs has lacked over the years. But most importantly, how can they stay on the right side defensively?
"Well, I mean, that's just their job," Hiller said. "We can talk about this and say, 'here's the plan,' but that's the responsibility that comes with it. So what I'm hoping is we make it easier for all our defensemen this year. The forwards are doing a lot of skating, and they're doing a lot of skating back towards their own end. We need to have that. That makes everybody's job easier defensively, particularly the defensemen."
Individually, Rielly has struggled in the past couple of seasons, seeing one of the lowest offensive numbers last season, registering 11 goals and 36 points in 78 games. Hiller is aware of the narrative surrounding the Maple Leafs' longest-active tenured player.
Toronto's head coach doesn't believe that any part of his game needs to be corrected, but he needs to find some energy.
"I just think he needs to just get, the passion back for it," Hiller said. "He's got to be in a good frame of mind. He needs support from, like all the defensemen, from the forwards.
"I haven't been here. I do understand the narrative. You know, people got down on Morgan. I don't see it. I'm giving him a clean slate, and I'm glad he's excited to play and I expect just a great year. And I know for years he was looked upon favorably by everybody. So sometimes things turn, and they swing maybe a little too far one way or the other, and it might not be the exact truth."
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